CCHIT certifies first EHRs for stimulus money

The first round of EHR products has been certified for federal stimulus funding.

Four companies' products have been approved for meaningful use by providers who want to receive 2011-2012 incentive money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) announced this week.
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The commission has received about 25 applications and inspections are continuing, the commission’s executive director Alisa Ray said in a statement.

Three of the products were approved under the Preliminary program, which only tests the products against the federal standards. This is intended to give providers more flexibility in meeting the incentive funding requirements. The products don’t have to meet every criterion, and CCHIT lists which objectives each product supports. Here are the products:

• eHealth Made EASY, Version 3, by eHealth Made EASY, LLC
• KIS Track, Version 5.1, by Kaulkin Information Systems
• Medios, Version 4.5 by IOS Health Systems


One product was certified under the CCHIT Certified 2011 Comprehensive program, which is a more rigorous inspection and full compliance with the federal standards, intended to give providers “maximum assurance” that they will qualify for financial incentives. The product is ABELMed EHR-EMR/PM, Version 11, by ABEL Medical Software Inc.

The catch is that the certification component of both programs related to the federal stimulus incentives is considered preliminary, because the definition of meaningful use hasn’t been finalized by HHS yet. Companies testing products against the standards now will have a chance to “quickly close any gaps after the final rules are published in the Federal Register in spring 2010,” the commission said.