Commission Launches ONC-ATCB Certification Program

Chicago-based Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) launched its ONC-ATCB certification program for electronic health records to certify that EHRs are capable of meeting the 2011/2012 criteria to support Stage 1 meaningful use as required by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. CCHIT’s first group of ONC-ATCB Certified 2011/2012 EHRs will be announced within weeks.

The certification will be offered for Complete EHRs that meet all of the HHS 2010/2011 criteria and EHR Modules that meet one or more—but not all —of the criteria. Certification applications and an additional toolkit designed to help prepare health IT companies and developers for this new certification are now available. A Town Call Web-cast describing CCHIT’s application and testing process held today will be available soon for viewing on the Commission’s website.

In addition to ONC-ATCB certification, CCHIT will continue to offer its CCHIT Certified program for Ambulatory and Inpatient EHR products that exceed the government criteria. That program is designed for hospitals and physician practices looking for more robust, integrated EHR products to support the unique needs of their clinicians and patients. Many health IT companies and developers will certify their EHRs in both programs to provide this extra assurance to their customers. Companies with products applying for the CCHIT Certified program may also apply for the ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 program at no additional cost.