certification

CCHIT’s Latest Gambit

September 9, 2009

by Glen Laffel MD, PhD

Many of us have enjoyed a few good minutes of fun having our fortunes told by soothsayers who claim they can predict our future based on patterns of tea leaves in a cup or the playing cards we’ve pulled from a deck.

We pay a few dollars for the entertainment and if the fortune teller is skilled, we are temporarily impressed by his “insight.” But once we leave the carnival, we come back […]

HIT Policy Committee Recommends “Minimum” Certification of EHRs

August 16, 2009

At last Friday’s meeting, the HIT Policy Committee adopted the recommendations of the Certification and Adoption Workgroup.

Between the initial recommendations in July and the adopted recommendations in August, one critical word was added to the definition of “certification”. That one word is “minimum” — and this one word expresses the correct approach and philosophy for the government’s role in the certification process for EHRs.

In this post I’ll address why a “minimum” approach toward certification makes […]

Overcoming The Penguin Problem: Setting Expectations for EHR Adoption

August 2, 2009

Economists call it “The Penguin Problem” — No one moves unless everyone moves, so no one moves.

The role of user expectations is crucial in getting penguins to move off of ice floes and in the successful adoption of new network technologies. I’ll cover two main points in today’s essay:

How “The Penguin Problem” Helps Explain Low EHR (electronic health record) Adoption To-Date
How Recent Federal Actions Are Setting Higher Expectations for EHR Adoption

The Penguin Problem and Low EHR Adoption To-Date

While not the only factor, […]

Markle v. HIMSS: Differing Views of “Meaningful Use” and “Certification”

April 30, 2009

The forthcoming definition of the “meaningful use” of health information technology will set the direction of the Obama administration’s strategy for health IT adoption, said David Blumenthal, the new national coordinator for health IT. Government HealthIT, April 28, 2009

…but not everyone sees eye-to-eye on the definitions of “meaningful use” and “certification”. [See the first […]

Stunning Announcement: AMA Goes to the Dogs in Deal With Physician Web Portal Company

April 23, 2009

What’s stunning about this deal is who its NOT with. The AMA chose NOT to partner with any of the incumbent electronic medical record (EMR) companies, e.g., Allscripts, GE, Epic, NextGen, or many others.

For those of you who have not seen earlier posts in this series, please understand that the reference to “goes to the dogs” is a great compliment.

In a joint press release, the American Medical Association and Covisint unveiled an agreement yesterday:

Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ: CPWR) announced today that its Covisint subsidiary signed […]

Is the Health Data Liquidity Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

April 6, 2009

What a difference in attitude! Compare two press announcements from April 5:

1) CCHIT: Interoperability Isn’t Doable With Today’s Technology .

Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), Interoperability: Supplying the Building Blocks for a Patient-centered EHR , April 5, 2009

This report…(is) also an attempt to inject a dose of reality into the discussion of interoperability – from practical expectations for the near term and future years to the challenges of developing software architecture and implementation guides that can execute new […]

Wait and See: What’s Unclear or To-Be-Determined (TBD) About HITECH.

March 27, 2009

Sometimes laws are passed and the statute itself represents 95% of the work — there aren’t many details to figure out or loose ends to tidy up.

That isn’t the case with HITECH. The HITECH statute is just the beginning.

Whether you’re a cat or a dog, you’ll have hopes and fears about aspects of HITECH that are unclear or yet to-be-determined (TBD).

These include:

Feline Foot-Dragging: Three Non-Innovative Aspects of HITECH

March 25, 2009

What do cats (incumbent EHR vendors and their supporters) have to smile about over HITECH?

A lot.

…and it’s not very complicated. HITECH directs $17 B to the cat community, and leaves scraps for the dogs.

(As a refresher, the cat POV is that HITECH stimulus funds should simply pay directly for electronic health record (EHR) technology — that providers will figure out how to use the technology to improve quality and outcomes; the dog POV is that HITECH should pay for improved […]

Complimentary Webinar on Comparative Effectiveness Sponsored by Population Health Impact Institute (PHII)

December 15, 2008

The message is clear from Washington – “Comparative Effectiveness” has been proposed as the foundation for coverage decisions in Medicare. As the feds lead – this will more than likely "trickle down" to the commercial sector.

The Population Health Impact Institute (PHII) has convened national experts to develop a practical, comparative-based system to help purchasers and payers evaluate the methods and results used in all kinds of population health management programs – including medical, case and disease management, benefit design, value-based […]

CCHIT Should Support BOTH the HL7 CCD and the ASTM CCR for PHRs.

October 24, 2008

The federal government sponsored Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT ) is undertaking a certification process for personal health records (PHRs) . The CCHIT PHR Work Group has invited public comment on the First Draft of the PHR Certification Criteria .

The current draft of the PHR Certification Criteria specifies use of the HL7 Continuity of Care Document (CCD) as the only endorsed standard for interoperable exchange of information to and from PHRs. This is extremely short-sighted.

I wrote a comment to […]