News Release

HHS Officially Recognizes Certification Body to Evaluate Electronic Health Records

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) is the first group to be designated a Recognized Certification Body (RCB), HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced today. An RCB’s impartial seal of approval will accelerate adoption of health IT products by removing uncertainty about the technical capabilities of the products, and thereby limiting the risk associated with investing in health IT for health care providers.

“Broad adoption of health information technology that is interoperable is absolutely crucial to providing patients with better care, at lower cost, and with less hassle,” Secretary Leavitt said. “I applaud the CCHIT for meeting the requirements to become a Recognized Certification Body and for their efforts to help bring the benefits of health IT within reach of consumers.”

The President emphasized the importance of interoperable health information technology in the Executive Order signed on August 22, directing federal agencies that use health IT to begin using health IT systems and products that meet recognized interoperability standards. The Executive Order defines “interoperability” as the ability to communicate and exchange data accurately, effectively, securely, and consistently using standards recognized by the Secretary of HHS.

This summer, HHS published two final rules providing new Anti-Kickback safe harbors and exceptions to the Physician Self-Referral law (Stark law) prohibitions. These changes permit arrangements involving certain donations of electronic health record (EHR) software and information technology and training services, provided that the software is interoperable. The Stark and Anti-kickback rules provided interim guidance regarding RCBs, namely that EHR software is considered interoperable that has been certified by an RCB within 12 months prior to donation.

“CCHIT is honored to have been named a Recognized Certification Body by HHS. Our certification will ensure that EHR products donated to physicians by hospitals, health plans and others, deliver interoperability along with all its attendant benefits,” said Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D., Chair, CCHIT.

As an RCB, the CCHIT will continue to evaluate health information technology products to ensure that they meet base-line requirements for functionality, interoperability and security. The CCHIT product certification criteria will leverage standards harmonized and selected by the Health Information Technology Standards Panel, which was created by the American National Standard Institute through a contract with HHS.

In September 2005, HHS awarded a $2.7 million contract to CCHIT, a private, non-profit organization, to develop an efficient, credible, and sustainable mechanism for certifying health care information technology products. Already in phase one, the CCHIT will certify health IT products in three initial phases:

• First, outpatient or ambulatory EHRs -- 33 products have been certified to date;
• Second, inpatient, or hospital EHRs; and
• Third, architectures, or systems that enable the exchange of information between and among health care providers and institutions.

To learn more about the CCHIT, and for a list of certified products, visit www.cchit.org.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last revised: January 12, 2009