The largest one to jump on the band wagon for potentially setting the minimum requirements of electronic health records is the CCHIT (Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology). While they’re not a government direct affiliate, they have influenced medical facilities as to what EHR to purchase to receive HITECH stimulus. The CCHIT certification has been presented to the health industry that their qualifications are encouraged for the HITECH financial incentives. There are pro’s and con’s to EHR companies seeking this certification and medical practices focusing on the certified software.
The CCHIT has come up with some positive requirements in medical software in regards to functionality, security and interoperability. They certify based on 475 criteria taking into account basic functions of patient records, their history, clinical notes. While a lot of the requirements are great and help with efficiency and security, they don’t really cater to the needs of different practices or medical facilities. While a hospital could certainly utilize the majority of these capabilities, a small dental office would need only a fraction. The consensus that electronic data is necessary holds firm, but requiring the same technology for such different facilities might not end up so beneficial.
It initially costs EHR software companies $29,000 for certification fees and $6,000 annual maintenance. This will inadvertently force perfectly secure and efficient software companies to raise their prices exponentially or just go out of business. Then small to medium size medical practices will not be able to afford software appropriate to their needs.
There is no need to panic though. The definitive requirement for qualifying is still “meaningful manner” as mentioned in the last blog. Health practices need to take into consideration different factors and what they specifically need in their management software. Take into account the size of office, how many practitioners and employees, billing details and of course standard HIPPA compliancy. There are so many resources out there for choosing an EHR and the HITECH Act.
Author: Meredith Crown Smith
