Aug 30, 2010 Press Releases from Drummond Group and CCHIT in Full
CCHIT announced September 20, 2010 Town Hall meeting and will start accepting applications for certification immediately after the meeting. Drummond Group promised more details and pricing by August 31, 2010. See ONC announcement.
Certification Commission Among First To Be Approved As ONC-ATCB
CCHIT is Authorized by HHS as Testing and Certification Body for Electronic Health Records
CCHIT Press Release
CHICAGO – August 30, 2010 – Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) announced today that it has been recognized by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) under the initial certification program created to certify that electronic health records (EHRs) are capable of meeting the criteria to support meaningful use and qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
“We are gratified to be among the first organizations authorized to certify EHRs by ONC,” said Karen M. Bell, M.D., M.M.S., chair of CCHIT. “As the originator of EHR certification, CCHIT has tested and certified hundreds of EHRs. Our experience has enabled us to promptly adapt our processes to accommodate the certification and standards adopted by HHS to support the meaningful use of EHRs by healthcare providers.”
CCHIT is authorized to offer HHS certification for complete EHRs that meet all of the Stage 1, 2011/2012 HHS/ONC criteria, as well as certification for modular EHR products that meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria.
CCHIT plans to launch its authorized HHS certification program on September 20 at 1:00 PM Eastern time with a Town Call Web-cast describing its application and testing process. CCHIT will take new health IT developer applications immediately after at http://cchit.org/ and the first group of HHS certified complete EHRs and EHR modules will be announced within weeks of that launch. More information about the Town Call will be available at http://www.cchit.org/towncalls. The call will be recorded for later viewing.
In addition to HHS certification, CCHIT will continue to offer its CCHIT Certified® program for Ambulatory and Inpatient EHR products that exceed the HHS/ONC criteria and are designed for hospitals and physician practices that are looking for assurance of more robust, integrated EHR products to support the unique needs of its clinicians and patients. Many of these products will also be HHS certified.
CCHIT also offers CCHIT Certified® programs for EHRs used in Cardiovascular Medicine, Child Health, Emergency Departments, Behavioral Health, Dermatology and Long-Term and Post-Acute Care. In addition, a certification program for EHRs used in Clinical Research will be available in fall 2010, and programs in Women’s Health and Oncology are in development for launch in spring 2011.
About CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology. The Commission has been certifying electronic health record technology since 2006 and is recognized by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). More information on CCHIT, CCHIT Certified® products and HHS certified electronic health record technology is available at http://cchit.org/ and http://ehrdecisions.com/.
“CCHIT®” and “CCHIT Certified®” are registered trademarks of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.
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Drummond Group Approved by HHS to Certify EHR
Drummond Group Press Release
August 30, 2010, Austin Texas. Drummond Group Inc., the trusted software testing lab, is one of the first to be approved by the Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) to be an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) to certify Complete EHRs and all EHR Modules for both ambulatory and inpatient settings. Eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs to collect incentive payments through meaningful use of electronic health record (EHR) technology must use EHR technology certified by an ONC-ATCB.
“Drummond Group has been working diligently for many months to meet the stringent criteria set forth by ONC to become certified as an ONC-ATCB, and we are very pleased that ONC has recognized our efforts and our competency to be an approved testing and certification body,” says Rik Drummond, CEO Drummond Group Inc. “We are pleased to offer over ten years of software testing and certification experience in other industries to Healthcare. After executing several pilots on existing EHR products and working with industry consultants, our organization is more than prepared to test and certify healthcare products.”
“The ONC accreditation is an acknowledgement that Drummond Group is fully qualified to meet the needs of EHR meaningful use stage one testing and certification. We highly commend the work of ONC and their accreditation process which tested the details of our testing and certification process and our industry knowledge. Having started new tests with other industries, we found this approval process to be the most demanding and the most thorough we have encountered. With our approval as an ONC-ATCB, EHR vendors and implementers can have full confidence in our testing and certification services, and we look forward to beginning testing with the many EHR software companies that have contacted us.”
To learn more about Drummond Group’s EHR testing and certification program including test registration and related pricing, please visit: http://www.drummondgroup.com/
[More information including pricing and registration instructions will be available by August 31, 2010.]
For more information on ONC’s ATCB program, please visit: http://healthit.hhs.gov/
About Drummond Group Inc.
Drummond Group Inc. (DGI) is the trusted interoperability test lab which works with standards groups, software/firmware vendors and industry groups to drive adoption of standards by offering global interoperability, conformance testing and certification. DGI facilitates these testing services under association-branded certification programs and its own Drummond Certified(R) program. Founded in 1999, DGI also represents best-of-breed in strategic interoperability consulting recognizing the challenges of interoperability for industry over the product life cycle.
- DGI provides interoperability certification for M2M or business-to-business (B2B) standards which are used for the Fortune 500 financial information flow, representing billions of dollars per year. Cyber security of data transfer is critically tested.
- DGI manages the KANTARA INITIATIVE Global Interoperability Test Program for Identity information exchange for the US government and the other global leaders in identity.
- DGI facilitates software audits of the Controlled Substance Ordering System (CSOS) software managed in compliance with the DEA regulations.
- Drummond Certified(R) software and firmware is required in RFP’s around the globe to ensure seamless, secure, interoperable products which make implementation easy, thereby significantly reducing costs.
- DGI was recently awarded two Department of Energy stimulus funded Smart Grid demonstration projects. DGI’s role in both projects relates to the interoperability and certification of Smart Grid technology.
