Certification of electronic health records is the last piece of the government’s healthcare information technology puzzle that needs to be put in place – and it can’t come soon enough.
Without it, healthcare organizations remain stymied about how and when they will be eligible for millions of dollars aimed at converting the nation’s paper-choked healthcare system to one that’s electronic.
That doesn’t mean IT leaders in hospitals and medical practices across the country are twiddling their thumbs. There is plenty to be done, and CIOs we’ve talked with say they are assessing the gaps between what they do today and what is required under meaningful use criteria.
Many expect to qualify.
But some don’t see how they will be able to meet deadlines.
One recent anonymous comment to a Healthcare IT News survey on meaningful use readiness put it this way:
“This is a time where hospitals are tightening their belts. We've had a salary increase freeze for two years and a hiring freeze for new positions for a year. To get the amount of work done in time to receive the payments we'd need to hire staff. And although we are fortunate enough to already have a fully electronic health record with a closed loop medication admin system, our vendor won't be able to provide us with "certified product" until the end of next year. At that point, we need to get into the implementation schedule and have key features implemented by April 2012. It's not possible.”
It’s not the sole healthcare organization frustrated by the timelines.
Even though under the rules, hospitals and physician offices can start demonstrating the required 90 days of meaningful use even before the electronic health record systems they are using become certified.
And, much has been accomplished in less than a year since the enactment of the HITECH Act in February 2009.
The professional organizations (AHIMA, HIMSS and NAHIT) that created the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) in 2004 – long before the government became a catalyst for healthcare IT, deserve kudos for their foresight. They recognized that without assurance that EHRs on the market would work, physicians and health systems would be jittery about making the change.
Everyone’s heard the horror stories of IT rollouts gone bad. They can wreak havoc with workflow, budget, and even compromise patient safety.
Certification offers some guarantee that the technology meets certain standards.
ONC chief David Blumenthal said in a conference call last month that the names of the federally authorized certification organizations would be announced “soon.” By the end of the summer is the closest officials came being specific.
“EHR systems will not be perfect as we embark on this transformation,” Blumenthal wrote in a recent blog, co-authored by CMS Administrator Don Berwick. “We will learn and adjust as we move through this multiyear process,” Blumenthal wrote. “But we believe the time for waiting is over. EHR adoption and meaningful use hold the promise of safer, higher-quality care for patients. They will enable health care professionals to serve with greater effectiveness and confidence. They will enhance public health and make more cost-effective use of our nation’s unparalleled health care resources.”
Demonstrating meaningful use, achieving certification and all the headaches that come with it may be difficult. Transformation will be disruptive. But it will be worth it. It’s all about the patient – and long overdue.
