CHICAGO – Key industry leaders are weighing in on the news that Mark Leavitt, MD, is retiring from his role as chairman of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology, and the CCHIT board of trustees has launched a national search for Leavitt’s successor.

Glen Tullman, Allscripts’-Misys Healthcare Solutions chief executive officer and a member of the CCHIT board of trustees, said the board is moving quickly on the search and hopes to find a successor before Leavitt’s departure on March 31.

Tullman said he expects the high-profile position will attract some highly qualified candidates.

Justin T. Barnes, vice president of marketing and government affairs at Greenway Medical Technologies

“I don’t think it will be difficult for anyone taking his place,” he said. “There are a lot of great thought leaders in our industry that can carry on the momentum,” he said.

Leavitt said in a press conference held to announce his departure that he is confident in CCHIT’s ability to carry forward in serving the group’s mission.

 “His departure signals that a complete re-organization of CCHIT is likely necessary to meet the new HHS Certification program’s requirements,” said David Kibbe, MD, senior adviser, American Academy of Family Physicians. “My guess is that a physician head of CCHIT may no longer be the best fit.

“Mark’s vision and leadership has been nothing short of remarkable. He has unquestionably been the right leader at the right time, maturing an industry and setting up an adaptive and strong entity ready for the next round of challenges,” said Linda Kloss, CCHIT trustee, and CEO of the American Health Information Management Association.

But, times have changed, said Glenn Laffel, Practice Fusion’s senior vice president, clinical affairs.

According to Laffel, Leavitt seemed to fight the idea “that the EHR community and those it serves can be best served by a group of certification agencies that implement criteria HHS has itself developed, with input from many stakeholders.”

John Moore, founder and managing partner of healthcare IT analyst firm Chilmark Research based in Cambridge, Mass, said the news of Leavitt’s departure comes at a “challenging time,” particularly with all the changes going on in certification. “With his departure, it will be a challenge to fill his shoes, and CCHIT may simply fade away,” Moore said.

“I argue that if CCHIT wants to remain a leader in the field, it still has work to do,” said Laffel. “In particular, it must expunge from its board of trustees all members that currently hold positions with EHR companies. Once that’s done, CCHIT can be viewed in the marketplace as a fair, unbiased certification organization with much to offer,” he said.

The Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the National Alliance for Health Information Technology (NAHIT) founded CCHIT in 2004.