The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) announced Monday that there has been growth in its EHR Alternative Certification for Healthcare Providers, or EACH program.

Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, affiliates and founding members of Partners HealthCare System, are the latest providers to certify their installed EHR technology under CCHIT’s EACH, an Office of the National Coordinator-authorized testing and certification program (ONC-ATCB) for 2011/2012. 

[See also: CCHIT certification for homegrown EHRs proves worthwhile.]

According to CCHIT, the EACH program meets the needs of hospitals and other providers that have uncertified legacy software, customized commercial products, or have developed their own EHR systems tailored to their individual needs.

The Commission announced that the EHR technology newly certified by the EACH program includes: 

• Partners Healthcare EHR (by Partners HealthCare System)

• MGH EHR, Version 1.0 (by Massachusetts General Hospital)

• BWH EHR, Version 1.1 (by Brigham and Women’s Hospital) 

“These organizations join almost 30 healthcare providers with multiple products that have received CCHIT EACH certification since the program was launched last year,” said Alisa Ray, executive director, CCHIT.  “As the originator of EHR certification, CCHIT has the depth of experience needed to meet the complex needs of large health care systems and group medical practices that have over the years invested significant resources in EHR systems that now must be certified to meet federal requirements supporting meaningful use.

"As these providers prepare to apply for the financial incentives offered in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, they cannot always rely on vendor certification of products to meet that requirement. This is an alternative path to help them meet that need,” she added.

Laura Leinen, senior project specialist and certification coordinator for Partners HealthCare said that “CCHIT provided a number of valuable learning and preparation tools to support our IT staff and facilitate the certification process.

[See also: CCHIT announces three new certification programs for EHRs.]

“The test scripts, self-assessment tools and online resources, including community forums and webinars, gave us ready access to the information we needed to assess the capabilities of our EHR technology against ONC’s criteria and complete the certification process as efficiently as possible,” said Leinen.

According to CCHIT, the EACH program offers:

• A series of self-paced, online learning programs designed to prepare EACH program applicants for ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 testing and certification;

• Online inventory and self-assessment tools developed to help healthcare providers evaluate how their installed EHR technology measures up to ONC’s criteria and standards;

• Additional support provided by CCHIT’s EACH program staff and access to an online community of other providers participating in the EACH program.