Certification

The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) on June 18, 2010 released a final rule outlining the process by which temporary certification bodies will be selected to test and certify Electronic Health Records (EHR) and EHR Modules. July 1, 2010 ONC began accepting applications for Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ONC-ATCB) who will perform temporary EHR certification. Then on August 30, 2010, HHS and ONC announced the first two ONC-ATCBs, the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology and the Drummond Group Inc. These two organizations will begin testing and certifying EHRs in preparation for the incentive programs.

LSS has been preparing for certification since the initial release of the definitions of meaningful use. Now that meaningful use, the certification criteria and standards, and the certification process have been finalized LSS will be selecting an ONC-ATCB and certifying our products. The certification processes will evaluate LSS' products against the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Test Procedures. To this end, LSS Data Systems continues to prepare for certification by reviewing the Approved Test Procedures published by NIST.

LSS Data Systems will continue to closely following the developments of certification as well as the other components of the CMS incentive programs. The release of this temporary certification rule is the first step in getting our products certified for meaningful use.

ONC Temporary Certification Final Rule
NIST Draft Test Procedures

Certification Timeline

The graphic below illustrates the timeline for the creation of the certification program. Now that all the pieces are in place certification will begin September 2010.