Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) is a private not-for-profit organization that serves as the recognized US certification authority for electronic health records (EHR) and their networks. CCHIT was founded in 2004 with support from three leading industry associations in healthcare information management and technology: the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the National Alliance for Health Information Technology(the Alliance). In September 2005, CCHIT was awarded a 3-year contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and evaluate the certification criteria and inspection process for EHRs and the networks through which they interoperate. In October 2006, HHS officially designated CCHIT as a Recognized Certification Body (RCB).^[1]

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Mission

To accelerate the adoption of health information technology by creating an efficient, credible and sustainable product certification program.

Goals

• Reduce the risk of Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) investment by physicians and other providers
• Ensure interoperability (compatibility) of HIT products
• Assure payers and purchasers providing incentives for electronic health records (EHR) adoption that the ROI will be improved quality
• Protect the privacy of patients' personal health information.

Commissioners

The Commission, chaired by Mark Leavitt, MD, PhD, is currently composed of 21 members^[2], each serving two-year terms:

• Abha Agrawal, MD, FACP, Director, Medical Informatics; Associate Medical Director, Kings County Hospital Center
• Richard Atkin, President, Misys Healthcare Systems
• Stephen L. Badger, CEO, George Washington U. Medical Faculty Assoc.
• David Bates, MD, MSc, Chief, General Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Karen Bell, MD, Director, Office of HIT Adoption, Office of the National Coordinator for HIT, US Department of Health and Human Services
• Bruce Nedrow Calonge, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment
• Jane L. Delgado, PhD, MS, President and CEO, National Alliance for Hispanic Health
• Andrea Gelzer, MD, FACP, Senior Vice President, Clinical Public Affairs, CIGNA Healthcare
• Jeffrey Hillebrand, Chief Operating Officer, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare
• Herb Kuhn, Senior Advisor to the Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), US Department of Health and Human Services
• Christopher Macmanus, Senior Vice President, Information Technology & CIO, Catholic Health Initiatives
• Denni McColm, Chief Information Officer, Citizens Memorial Healthcare
• Jane B. Metzger, Research Director, Emerging Practices, First Consulting Group
• Susan R. Miller, RN, FACMPE, Administrator, Family Practice Associates of Lexington Kentucky
• James Morrow, MD, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, North Fulton Family Medicine
• Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Quality, HC
• Wes Rishel, Research Director, Gartner, Inc.
• Don Rucker, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Siemens Medical Solutions
• Michael Ubl, Director, IT Strategy & eHealth, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
• Andrew G. Ury, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Practice Partner, Inc.
• Andrew Wiesenthal, MD, Associate Executive Director, Clinical Information Support, The Permanente Federation

Former Commissioners who have already completed two-year terms include:

• Suzanne Delbanco, PhD, CEO, The Leapfrog Group
• John Hummel, Clinical Solutions Director, Perot System - Healthcare Group
• Sam Karp, Vice President of Programs, California HealthCare Foundation
• Charles D. Kennedy, MD, VP of Clinical Informatics, WellPoint Inc.
• Graham O. King, President, Information Technology Business, McKesson Information Solutions
• Susan N. Postal, MBA, RHIA, VP, Health Information Management Services, Hospital Corporation of America
• John Tooker, MD, MBA, FACP, Executive VP/CEO, American College of Physicians
• Reed V. Tuckson, MD, Senior VP, United Health Group

Stakeholders

Certified EHR products benefit many interested groups and individuals:

• Physicians, hospitals, health care systems, safety net providers, public health agencies and other purchasers of HIT products, who seek quality, interoperability, data portability and security
• Purchasers and payers – from government to the private sector – who are prepared to offer financial incentives for HIT adoption but need the assurance of having a mechanism in place to ensure that products deliver the expected benefits
• Quality improvement organizations that seek out an efficient means of measuring that criteria have been assessed and met
• Standards development and informatics experts that gain consensus on standards
• Vendors who benefit from having to meet a single set of criteria and from having a voice in the process
• Healthcare consumers, ultimately, the most important stakeholders, who will benefit from a reliable, accurate and secure record of their health

CCHIT and its volunteer workgroups strive to fairly represent the interests of each of these diverse groups in an open forum, communicating the progress of its work and seeking input from all quarters. CCHIT has received the endorsements of a number of professional medical organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, the Physicians' Foundation for Health Systems Excellence and Physicians' Foundation for Health Systems Innovation.

Operations

Present

CCHIT has focused its first efforts on ambulatory EHR products^[3] for the office-based physician and provider and began commercial certification in May 2006.

CCHIT has begun the process of certification for inpatient EHR products^[4] and expects to have certified products available in 2007.

CCHIT has started to assess the potential of certifying EHR for specialty medicine, special care settings, and special-needs populations.^[5] As part of this effort, an environmental scan is currently underway.^[6]

Announcements of CCHIT Certified Products

• On July 18 2006, CCHIT released its first list of 20 certified ambulatory EMR and EHR products ^[7]
• On July 31 2006, CCHIT announced that two additional EHR products had achieved certification. ^[8]
• On October 23, 2006, CCHIT released its second list of 11 certified vendors.^[9]
• On April 30, 2007, CCHIT released its third list of 18 certified vendors.^[10]

Future

CCHIT works in a dynamic environment, collaborating with HHS and AHIC. Some standards are just gaining consensus while standards for interoperability are at an earlier state of development.

See also

• Electronic health record
• Electronic medical record