Jim Tate
HITECH Act EHR Certification Expert
EMRAdvocate.com
First ONC Certifications
The HIT world today became divided into two distinct and separate groups. Those EHR/Module vendors that have achieved official Stage 1 certification, and those that haven’t.
The first wave (33 products) was announced today by CCHIT. According to CCHIT, “The certifications include 19 Complete EHRs, which meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria for either eligible provider or hospital technology, and 14 EHR Modules, which meet one or more – but not all – of the criteria.”  The Drummond Group also announced  an initial group of 3 certifications. The Master List of all ONC Certified Products will be available soon on the ONC website and will list all certified products from all ONC-ATCBs. Vendors who have delayed their certification initiatives will be hard pressed to play catch up. The race has started and the only ones on the course started running today with the announcement of their certifications. As Bob Dylan said, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”.
So now we have Certified Technology. Next stop will be Meaningful Use.
About Jim Tate
Jim Tate is founder of EMRAdvocate and nationally recognized expert on the ARRA/HITECH incentive programs. They are dedicated to assisting hospitals and eligible providers as they plan for HIT adoption, achieving Stage 1 Meaningful Use and receiving the upcoming Medicare and Medicaid incentives.  He is also author of  The Incentive Roadmap® The Meaningful Use of Certified Technology: Stage 1, Manual for Medical Practices.