Certification of Health IT will provide assurance to purchasers and other users that an EHR system, or other relevant technology, offers the necessary technological capability, functionality, and security to help them meet the meaningful use criteria established for a given phase. Providers and patients must also be confident that the electronic health IT products and systems they use are secure, can maintain data confidentially, and can work with other systems to share information.  Confidence in health IT systems is an important part of advancing health IT system adoption and allowing for the realization of the benefits of improved patient care.

Eligible professionals and eligible hospitals who seek to qualify for incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs are required by statute to use Certified EHR Technology.  Once certified, Complete EHRs and EHR Modules would be able to be used by eligible professionals and eligible hospitals, or be combined, to meet the statutory requirement for Certified EHR Technology. 

To this end, as issued in June 2010, 45 CFR Part 170 subpart D - Establishment of the Temporary Certification Program for Health Information Technology establishes certification programs for purposes of testing and certifying health information technology.

This final rule specifically establishes a temporary certification program to assure the availability of Certified EHR Technology prior to the date on which health care providers seeking the incentive payments would begin to report demonstrable meaningful use of Certified EHR Technology.

To learn more about the Temporary Certification Program Final Rule:

• Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

In January 2011, ONC issued the final rule to establish the Permanent Certification Program for Health Information Technology (Permanent Certification Program). The permanent certification program will eventually replace the temporary certification program. The temporary certification program will continue to be in effect until it sunsets on December 31, 2011, or at a later date when the processes necessary for the permanent certification program to operate are completed.

In June 2011, ONC approved the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as the ONC-Approved Accreditor (AA) for the Permanent Certification Program. The ONC-AA will accredit organizations to certify electronic health record technology and perform other responsibilities under the permanent certification program. Approval of the ONC-AA is one of the initial steps in the implementation of the permanent certification program, which is anticipated to replace the temporary certification program in 2012. 

For more information about the permanent certification program, please review the final rule entitled “Establishment of the Permanent Certification Program for Health Information Technology” [PDF - 413 KB] (76 FR 1262, Jan. 7, 2011).

To learn more about the Permanent Certification Program Final Rule:

• Read the Final Rule [PDF - 412 KB]
  
• Fact Sheet
  
• Press Release
  

In collaboration with ONC, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed the functional and conformance testing requirements, test cases, and test tools to support the proposed Health IT Certification Programs. These conformance test methods (test procedures, test data, and test tools) will help ensure compliance with the meaningful use technical requirements and standards.

http://healthcare.nist.gov/use_testing/index.html

For other questions related to the Temporary Certification program, please email ONC.Certification@hhs.gov.