April 30, 2010 - Advocacy Corner

Capacity Important for Certification Program, Among CHIME Comments to ONC. In a letter filed today in response to the Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) on the Permanent Certification Program, CHIME urged that sufficient capacity should be available to handle the high industry demand expected. Said the letter, “All certification efforts, whether in the provisional program or the permanent program, need to focus on developing a program to approve clinical applications for achieving meaningful use criteria.” CHIME cautioned against certifying PHRs or other program expansions now, deferring this to some future time.

The proposed Rule asks for input on the appropriate number of Authorized Certification Bodies (ACBs), entities authorized by ONC to conduct certification. Said CHIME, “We believe there is a “sweet spot” for the number of ACBs that can effectively perform certification in both the near and long term. If there are too few certification bodies in the program, they will be unable to effectively handle the demand for certifications that can be expected at the outset of the program. Alternatively, if there are too many ACBs, we question whether all such entities can sustain their businesses after the initial rush of certifications has been awarded.”

Consistency and quality in the certification process is essential as well the transition from the temporary to the permanent process, according to the comments. ACBs conducting certification in the temporary (provisional certification stage), should have their certifications carry forward into the permanent phase. This will provide important protections to those vendors and providers that have installed applications under the temporary process.

Final Rules are expected by mid-June, although several pending issues requiring either legislative action or policy decisions could result in an Interim Final Rule, instead.

CIOs Provide Feedback to Blumenthal. In a panel discussion at the AHA Annual Meeting this week, Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), summarized recent messages from the hospital community. Said Blumenthal, "We've heard this point of view loud and clear." While currently in the rule-making stage which prohibited direct comments on the rules, he made mention of flexibility in helping more hospitals to qualify. Further, he noted that, "getting standards right" is critical to exchange, and ONC is "extremely mindful" in the regulatory process of not preventing innovation with over restrictive standards.

Providing the CIO context, were panelists Methodist Health System’s Pam McNutt and Intermountain Healthcare’s Mark Probst, who also serves on the HIT Policy Committee.

As to readiness for Methodist by 2011, "only if there is some relief to the all or nothing approach in the proposed rule.” Intermountain Healthcare, which uses a self-developed system, would like to see more flexibility in the qualification requirements for meaningful use. For Methodist’s slides, please click here.

Revised Certification Rules Subject of May 13 Webinar. The proposed rules for the temporary and permanent certification process answer some questions, but obviously many issues remain unclear on how this will affect organization readiness for meaningful use. As expressed in comments to ONC, CHIME offers recommendations to help shape the certification process with a focus on practical workable solutions. To hear about some of the thinking behind these comments from CHIME leadership, CHIME CIO members are invited to a College Live Webinar, What to Expect from the Proposed Certification Process, scheduled for May 13, 11:00 AM ET. Watch for registration details.

StateNet and ALT Policy Briefing June 16. National Health IT Week (June 14-18) brings public and private stakeholders together to educate policy makers on the transformational value of health IT. CHIME is taking this occasion to hold the first in-person meeting of StateNet, which comes at a critical time given passage of health reform legislation and near conclusion of the initial HITECH regulatory phase.

Scheduled from 1-3:30 pm, the meeting features discussion of HITECH state issues such as interoperability, HIE development and border state issues. Special hotel rates are available. See details at this registration link.