More EHR Products Receive Official Stamp of Approval

Family physicians looking to reduce their risk of investing in an electronic health record system take note: A second group of ambulatory EHR products has received the industry's only "seal of approval."

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, or CCHIT announced in an Oct. 23 press release that 11 additional products have received the CCHIT Certified seal, bringing the total number of certified products to 33. The first EHR products ever to receive certification were announced at a July press conference presided over by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt.

A complete list of all certified ambulatory EHR products is available on the CCHIT Web site.

According to the press release, certified products must comply with 100 percent of a comprehensive set of CCHIT criteria that have been developed to ensure that products provide "a broad foundation of functionality, will evolve to deliver standards-based interoperability with other systems, and include security features to protect the privacy of personal health information."

CCHIT's certification process is ongoing; health IT companies applying for certification for their products can do so on a quarterly basis.

The Academy has been supportive of and involved in the CCHIT effort. Academy EVP Douglas Henley, M.D., was a charter commissioner of CCHIT, and Steven Waldren, M.D., director of the AAFP's Center for Health Information Technology, co-chair's CCHIT's ambulatory EHR functionality work group.