More on CCHIT EACH certification

In “To EACH His Own,” For the Record delves into CCHIT EACH certification:

EACH is designed for hospitals that have uncertified legacy software, customized commercial products, or self-developed EHR systems. Instead of relying on vendor-certified products, these organizations take a homegrown approach.

CCHIT believes the program fills a gap in the meaningful use equation. “Most hospitals and hospital systems—and some large group practices—are complex and rarely deploy one vendor’s system exclusively; they have an interconnected ‘system of systems,’” says Patricia Becker, certification director at the CCHIT. “The deployed EHRs in these complex systems are often a mix of commercial and self-developed software. In these cases, the model of obtaining certified EHR technology from a vendor fails when health IT is partly or fully self-developed, a commercial product version is too old to be upgraded, a hospital is in a multiyear product upgrade or conversion, or a vendor has chosen not to present an updated EHR for ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification.”

For more, visit For the Record.