By, Rich Silverman

The two most important aspects of any electronic medical records system have been meaningful use and certification. Meaningful use, as we discussed in an earlier post, has finally been defined. Now the certification process is being clarified.

The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has announced the release of the National Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) related to how certification will work. The NPRM, published in the Federal Register on March 9th, came through at a mind-boggling 186 pages.

When you read between the lines, what seems to be happening is this: The Office of the National Coordinator is setting up a temporary certification process. This will enable providers to finally be sure they are getting certified systems, and begin establishing meaningful use so they can qualify for the incentive payments. The ONC is also asking for organizations that want to be approved to perform the certifying and testing of EMR products to send in applications.

Once the temporary system is up and running, ONC will work to create a second, separate and permanent certification system for use moving forward. While the processes of certification and testing will require separate approvals from ONC, it looks as though an organization can be authorized by ONC to do both.

The rulemaking sets forth 30- and 60-day periods for public comment, after which ONC will make decisions as to the final form the testing and certifying bodies will ultimately take. The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), which has been certifying EHRs since 2004, has already announced that it is ready to apply.

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