CCHIT delivers testimony on EHR certification and “meaningful use”

Today, Mark Leavitt MD, PhD, chair of CCHIT, testified at the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) Executive Subcommittee hearings on the topic of “EHR Product Certification” and “meaningful use” as they apply to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

We encourage you to download the CCHIT presentation for the NCVHS

CCHIT also submitted written testimony on the electronic health records and “meaningful use” to the NCVHS.

During our initial years, certification served as a confidence-booster for providers concerned about buying EHRs that lacked the needed functionality, security, and interoperability. Financial incentives for EHRs then began to emerge, but they pale in comparison to the bold goals and nationwide scale of the Recovery Act.

Now, as health leaders, we must make progress on three tightly interdependent paths at the same time. Promoting EHR adoption and use is just one track. The second is to develop and sustain health information exchange. Finally, we must reform – and ultimately transform — the health system. Because the journey is long and complex, we will need to assess and reward progress at incremental steps along the way. Certification must step up to fulfill a more strategic role, serving not only to reduce risks, but as a dynamic coupling mechanism between advancing policies and the real-world development, marketing, adoption, and use of health IT.

You can view the testimony below or download a PDF containing the CCHIT testimony for the NCVHS.

Certification and Meaningful Use: EHR Product Certification - Get more Information Technology