By Christopher Monk and Papia Paul, ONC
Twitter: @ONC_HealthIT
Health IT Modules certified through the ONC Health IT Certification Program provide end users with confidence that the technology they depend on to provide care lives up to its certified capabilities. This confidence includes the actions and business practices required of Certified Health IT Developers through the Conditions and Maintenance of Certification requirements, which collectively promote interoperability and foster competition in health IT. The 21st Century Cures Act required ONC to include attestations as a Condition of Certification in the Certification Program, which ONC implemented as part of the ONC Cures Act Final Rule. And it turns out there’s a lot to be confident about – “because 100% of Certified Health IT Developers submitted their attestations!”
To meet the Attestations Condition of Certification, Certified Health IT Developers are required to provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services an attestation of compliance with each of the specified Conditions and Maintenance of Certification requirements (i.e., Information Blocking, Assurances, Communications, Application Programming Interfaces, and Real World Testing) twice a year.
April 1, 2022, marked the opening of the first 30-day attestation window. During this period, Certified Health IT Developers submitted their attestations to ONC-Authorized Certification Bodies (ONC-ACBs) using ONC’s Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) site. Leading up to the submission window, ONC collaborated with ONC-ACBs and the developer community to register accounts on the CHPL and update Certification Program resources, like our Attestations Fact Sheet and Certification Companion Guides (CCGs). We thank our industry partners for their commitment to reviewing the Certification Program requirements and providing timely attestations.
The attestations are an important Certification Program requirement. The semiannual reviews encourage accountability, and their frequency enables any necessary corrective action(s) to be addressed in a timely and incremental manner. As a semiannual process, we’re already thinking ahead to the next attestation window, which opens on October 1, 2022. We’re actively incorporating the great feedback we received from the stakeholder community on this first round as we continue to streamline the attestation process for Certified Health IT Developers. Stay tuned for reminders and updates from ONC in the coming months!
This post was originally published on the Health IT Buzz and is syndicated here with permission.