CHICAGO – The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), one of three government designated certification entities, says it will launch a new custom EHR certification program for hospitals on Dec. 15.

CCHIT will introduce the program at a Town Call webcast and teleconference Dec. 1 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

CCHIT's EHR Alternative Certification for Hospitals, or EACH program, an ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification for installed hospital EHR technology, is designed to meet the needs of hospitals that have uncertified legacy software, customized commercial products, or have developed their own EHR systems.
 
"Until now, CCHIT's ONC-ATCB certification was available only for health IT vendor developed products," said Alisa Ray, executive director, CCHIT. "Our new certification program is an alternative for hospitals that have developed their systems with products that are not individually certified or are a mix of certified and uncertified products. These hospital EHR systems are often very sophisticated and may have been developed over many years. Yet, they must be certified for hospitals to qualify for financial incentives through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and avoid Medicare penalties."
 
"Hospitals certifying products in this new program can be assured that they meet a critical first step in qualifying for ARRA incentive payments and that their EHR technology is prepared to support the achievement of meaningful use by its clinicians," Ray added.

Alternative certification is not needed if a hospital has adopted an EHR with complete certification, or a combination of certified EHR modules that meet all of the 2011/2012 certification criteria.

CCHIT has been certifying EHR technology since 2006 and was approved by the HHS Office of the. National Coordinator for HIT (ONC) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) on Sept. 3, 2010. To date, CCHIT has certified 66 products offered by health IT companies.