The Road Ahead

CCHIT Prepares Two 2011 Certifications

The Certification Commission has announced that it is proceeding with its planned launch of new certification programs on October 7. In addition to an updated comprehensive electronic health record (EHR) certification program, called CCHIT Certified® 2011, the organization will offer a modular certification program called Preliminary ARRA 2011 that is limited to the standards for qualifying EHR technology under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

ONC Reveals Extension Center Grant Program

The HITECH Act authorizes a Health Information Technology Extension Program (Extension Program). The Extension Program consists of Regional Extension Centers (Regional Centers) and a national Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC). This funding opportunity announcement seeks applications from qualified entities to serve as Regional Centers within the Extension Program.

The Regional Centers will offer technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The Extension Program will establish an estimated 70 (or more) Regional Centers each serving a defined geographic area. The Regional Centers will support at least 100,000 primary care providers, through participating non-profit organizations, in achieving meaningful use of EHRs and enabling nationwide health information exchange.

The Extension Program will also establish a HITRC, funded separately, which will gather relevant information on effective practices from a wide variety of sources across the country and help the Regional Centers collaborate with one another and with relevant stakeholders to identify and share best practices in EHR adoption, effective use, and provider support. — Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology



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InterConnect, September 2009

Published monthly by MobileMD, InterConnect provides current information on Health Information Exchanges. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of contents herein.
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