Does anyone know if this group will look at opensource??? Health IT Certification Group's First Focus on Ambulatory EHRs
posted by: Sue Dormanen <http://www.communityclinicvoice.org/directory/directory_show.htm?user_id=28 9> - Sep 20, 2004 <http://www.communityclinicvoice.org/calib/pub/myfolder_manage.htm?myfolder_ add=yes&asset_id=25884&asset_type_id=3&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecommuni tyclinicvoice%2Eorg%2Fnews%2Fnews%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5FID%3D25884> <http://www.communityclinicvoice.org/calib/admin/doc_edit_comment.htm?node_i d=1714&parent_doc_id=25884&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecommunityclinicvoic e%2Eorg%2Fnews%2Fnews%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5FID%3D25884> The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology will begin certifying electronic health records for physicians' offices as early as next summer, Health Data Management reports <http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/html/news/NewsStory.cfm?DID=11966> . The commission decided to tackle ambulatory EHRs first because physicians' offices have some of the lowest levels of health IT adoption, standards for these records already exist or are emerging and pilot demonstrations of these records in doctors' offices are already taking place around the country. The group, which was formed in July by the American Health Information Management Association <http://www/ahima.org> , HIMSS <http://www/himss.org> and National Alliance for Health Information Technology <http://www.nahit.org> , aims to accelerate the adoption of IT in the industry and create a sustainable method to certify IT products. Physicians have been reluctant to purchase EHRs because of the up-front costs and because these systems often can't communicate with other systems, among other reasons. National Health IT Coordinator Dr. David Brailer has said EHR certification is one of the key elements in pushing the industry to adopt technology. The commission includes 12 industry leaders from hospitals, payers, vendors, medical organizations and health care analyst firms, in addition to two non-voting members from the government. At its inaugural meeting in Chicago last week, the group decided that its mission would be to: * Increase provider confidence about investments in IT; * Ensure interoperability of health IT product with emerging local and national health information networks; and * Increase the availability of incentives to health IT adoption. David D Derauf MD MPH Executive Director Kokua Kalihi Valley
