EHR Certification Process: 'Massive' Changes Ahead?

Health IT Policy Committee wants to streamline process, limit scope of certification

The certification process for EHRs in the Meaningful Use program may soon undergo significant revision. The Health IT Policy Committee's certification/adoption work group recommends two major changes to certification, according to an article in Health Data Management.

The first recommendation would be to take a "holistic" and "end-to-end" approach to certification to create a more streamlined, coordinated and timely process. The second would limit the scope of Health IT certification to interoperability, clinical quality measures and privacy and security.

The recommendations were made at the work group's meeting last week. Paul Tang, vice chair of the work group, called the recommended changes "massive," according to the article. At a hearing held by the work group May 7, stakeholders expressed concern with the current certification process, noting that the "scope, compressed timeframe and resource needs" of EHRs were stifling innovation and impeding care delivery, according to an article in clinical-innovation.com. The group also met the following day to discuss the changes...