The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has announced that five groups have been accredited to apply to be health IT certification bodies under the meaningful use program, Modern Healthcare reports.
ONC said that five testing labs also have been accredited (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 7/18).
Background
Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments.
Health care providers seeking to meet meaningful use requirements can use EHR systems approved by ONC's authorized testing and certification bodies. ONC previously authorized six temporary ONC-ATCBs.
In January 2011, ONC issued a final rule to establish a permanent certification program for EHR systems and modules. The final rule stipulates that ONC will choose one organization -- the ONC-approved accreditor -- to accredit groups aiming to become a health IT certification body.
In June 2011, ONC designated the American National Standards Institute as the ONC-AA (iHealthBeat, 11/28/11).
Accredited Certification Bodies
The five certification bodies that received accreditation from ANSI are:
- Certification Commission for Health Information Technology;
- Drummond Group;
- ICSA Laboratories;
- InfoGuard Laboratories; and
- Orion Register.
Orion Register is the only group that does not currently participate in Stage 1 of the meaningful use program under a temporary certification program (Goedert, Health Data Management, 7/18).
Accredited Testing Labs
The five testing labs accredited through the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program are:
- CCHIT;
- Drummond Group;
- ICSA;
- InfoGuard; and
- SLI Global Solutions.
The labs are not required to take part in further application to test health IT systems under the meaningful use program (
Modern Healthcare, 7/18).