With the advent of new telemedicine technologies, the secure exchange of medical information electronically is of the utmost importance in the healthcare industry. The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT received input from various advisory committees early this month about how a voluntary nationwide health information exchange (HIE) certification could be best accomplished. Farzad Mostashari, M.D., the head of the ONC accepted responses to 66 questions about certification during the HIT Policy Committee (HITPC) meeting earlier this month. The questions, which addressed how the certification process would work, were part of a feasibility study requesting input from advisory committees. Several aspects of certification were discussed at the HIT Policy Committee meeting, including:
Who would accredit entities
How entities would be verified and audited
How state laws might affect the process
Interoperability concerns
Processes for revoking certification for entities that failed to adhere to requirements
The potential economic impact of certification for practitioners and patients
