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After hearing a progress report on CCHIT's work at the American Health Information Community's (AHIC) meeting on May 16, the Community recommended that the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) criteria for ambulatory Electronic Health Records (EHR) be accepted by U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt.

During the meeting, CCHIT Chair Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D., reported on the May 1 publication of the final criteria and the official launch of the certification program on May 3. Meeting transcripts and a video cast are available at http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/m20060516.html.

"During the 10-day application window, more than two dozen vendors applied — an even more positive response than we expected," said Mark Leavitt. "We are seeing a good spread across the marketplace, with vendors who serve small, medium, and large offices."

Responding to concerns about meeting the demand for certification testing, Mark Leavitt said, "Fortunately, we also received a very positive response from potential jurors, with more than 175 applications submitted. We can ramp up our testing capacity and hope to accommodate all applicants in time for the first batch announcement. We thank our many volunteers and everyone who stepped up to support this new initiative that will benefit patients, providers, and all stakeholders in healthcare IT."

"We have been very pleased with the healthcare community's participation in the first round of applications for certification û both by the EHR vendors seeking to become 'CCHIT Certified' and by the professionals willing to serve as inspectors," said Alisa Ray, executive director for CCHIT. "In response, CCHIT is adding staff to ensure good customer support for vendors that have applied, while addressing the next phase of our work, EHRs for the inpatient setting."

Staff positions now open within CCHIT's Chicago office include an Interoperability Work Group Coordinator to support and guide that workgroup's development activities, and additional Certification Managers to oversee relationships with vendors throughout the application, test and certification process. Interested parties can learn more at the CCHIT Web site, www.cchit.org, or email their resumes to careers@cchit.org

On September 13, 2005, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt announced the membership for the American Health Information Community, which was formed to help advance efforts to reach President Bush's call for most Americans to have electronic health records within 10 years.

The Community is a federally chartered commission that provides input and recommendations to HHS on how to make health records digital and interoperable, and assure that the privacy and security of those records are protected, in a smooth, market-led way.

The Community is being chartered for two years, with the option to renew and duration of no more than five years. The Department intends for the Community to be succeeded within five years by a private-sector health information community initiative that, among other things, would set additional needed standards, certify new health information technology, and provide long-term governance for health care transformation. For more information, visit http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/ahic.html.

The Certification Committee for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) was founded in 2004 with support from three leading industry associations in healthcare information management and technology — The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and The National Alliance for Health Information Technology (Alliance). In September 2005, CCHIT was awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop, create prototypes for, and evaluate the certification criteria and inspection process for EHRs and the networks through which they interoperate. More information on CCHIT is available at www.cchit.org.