The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) on December 30, 2009. The rules propose the initial set of standards, certification criteria, and implementation specifications. The rules are the first step in an incremental approach to adopting standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria to enhance the interoperability, functionality, utility and security of health information technology and to support its meaningful use.
The certification criteria follow the proposed meaningful use definition found in the NPRM issued by CMS. There are four types of standards being proposed for stage 1 certified technology. And specifications for implementation of the standards will bow to the currently accepted guidelines in the industry.
The provisions of the HITECH Act tie the standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria in this rule with the incentives available under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs by requiring the meaningful use of Certified EHR Technology. The standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria apply to and establish the required capabilities for Certified EHR Technology. These criteria do not establish requirements for health care providers, such as eligible professionals or eligible hospitals to follow.
ONC IFR Overview is the third of our Issued Rules webinar series presented by Bill Oravecz. This webinar is an overview of the proposed rules. You can find this webinar in the subscriber Rules Update library. View the first and second in the series outlining the history of EHR adoption and the NPRM overview. Stay tuned each week for the next webinar in this series.