Image by qwrrty via Flickr

Everybody has been holding their breath to see which EHR software will pass the ONC-ATCB (Office of the National Coordinator for Healthcare IT – Authorized Testing & Certification Body) 2011/2012 certification. Some will buy a system based on this information, and others will continue on with their system feeling a great sense of relief that the system they’ve already paid for is now certified. Still others will wonder if their system of choice has applied and failed, or not applied yet. All this and more information is available on the websites of the three companies that have been approved via the Temporary Certification Program for Health Information Technology.
*
The companies are:
CCHIT and Drummond announced their first group of certified systems October 1, 2010 and InfoGard has yet to make an announcement.
*
EHR software companies “…are required to provide complete information on the details of their ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification, including company and product name and version, date certified, unique product identification number, the criteria for which they are certified, and the clinical quality measures for which they were tested, and any additional software a complete EHR or EHR module relied upon to demonstrate its compliance with a certification criteria,” states the CCHIT website. This information should be available on the product websites, the certifying body website and the ONCHIT website.
*
As you are reviewing the bolded product names below, notice that the information is split into separate categories for providers and hospitals, is divided based on the company that certified the EHR and is also broken into complete EHRs software versus software modules.

ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS

Complete EHRs for Eligible Providers (CCHIT)

  1. ABEL Medical Software, Inc. for ABELMed EHR – EMR/PM, version 11
  2. Allscripts, Allscripts Professional EHR, version 9.2
  3. Aprima Medical Software, Inc. for Aprima, version 2011
  4. athenahealth, Inc. for athenaclinicals, version 10.10
  5. CureMD Corporation for CureMD EHR, version 10
  6. The DocPatientNetwork.com for Doctations, version 2.0
  7. Epic Systems Corporation for EpicCare Ambulatory – Core EMR, version Spring 2008
  8. GE Healthcare for Centricity Advance, version 10.1
  9. gloStream, Inc. for gloEMR, version 6.0
  10. Intuitive Medical Software for UroChartEHR, version 4.0
  11. MCS – Medical Communication Systems, Inc. for iPatientCare, version 4.0
  12. Medical Informatics Engineering for WebChart EHR, version 5.1
  13. meditab Software, Inc. for IMS, version 14.0
  14. NeoDeck Software for NeoMed EHR, version 3.0
  15. NextGen Healthcare for NextGen Ambulatory EHR, version 5.6
  16. Nortec Software Inc for Nortec Ambulatory EHR, version 7.0
  17. Pulse Systems for 2011 Pulse Complete EHR, version 2011
  18. SuccessEHS for SuccessEHS, version 6.0

EHR Modules for Eligible Providers (CCHIT)

  1. Allscripts for Allscripts Peak Practice, version 5.5
  2. eClinicalWorks LLC for eClinicalWorks, version 8.0.48
  3. NexTech Systems, Inc. for NexTech Practice 2011, version 9.7
  4. nextEMR, LLC for nextEMR, LLC, version 1.5.0.0
  5. Sammy Systems for SammyEHR, version 1.1.248
  6. Universal EMR Solutions for Physician’s Solution, version 5.0
  7. Vision Infonet Inc., for MDCare EMR, version 4.2
  8. WellCentive for WellCentive Registry, version 2.0

Complete EHRs for Eligible Providers (Drummond)

  1. ChartLogic, Inc for ChartLogic EMR 7, version not noted

EHR Modules for Eligible Providers (Drummond)

  1. ifa united i-tech Inc. for ifa EMR, modules 170.302.A-J, 170.302.M, 170.302.O-V (specialized to ophthalmology)
  2. QRS INC. for PARADIGM, version 8.3, modules 170.302.A-W, 170.304.A, 170.304.C-J

HOSPITALS

Complete EHRs for Hospitals (CCHIT)

  1. Epic Systems Corporation for EpicCare Inpatient – Core EMR, version Spring 2008

EHR Modules for Hospitals (CCHIT)

  1. Allscripts for Allscripts ED, version 6.3
  2. Health Care Systems, Inc. for HCS eMR, version 4.0
  3. PeriGen for PeriBirth, version 4.3.50
  4. Prognosis Health Information Systems for ChartAccess, version 4
  5. T-System Technologies for T-SystemEV, version 2.7
  6. Wellsoft Corporation for WellsoftEDS, version 11

ARRA: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also called “The Stimulus Package” or “The Stimulus Bill.” Of the $850B in the bill, $51B is pegged for the health care industry and $19B of that will be used to incent medical practices to adopt EMRs/EHRs.

CCHIT: the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology is a private organization that certifies EMRs and EHRs based on 475 criteria spanning functionality, interoperability and security. CCHIT does not evaluate ease of use of products, financial viability of the company offering the software; or the quality of customer support offered by the software vendor. Whether or not CCHIT will be THE certifying organization to approve “qualified EMRs” will be announced at the end of the year. (Can be pronounced “SEA-CHIT” or each letter can be pronounced as in “C.C.H.I.T.”)

Comparative Effectiveness: Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) compares treatments and strategies to improve health. For CER, HITECH provides $300M for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, $400M for the National Institutes of Health, and $400M for the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. (more…)