Dive Brief:
- ONC has published a list of health IT products and developers that violate the Health IT Certification program requirements on the Certified Health IT Product List website.
- The agency chose authorized certification bodies to test certified health IT products to ensure they still meet program requirements after initial testing.
- Among the products that no longer comply are EHRs like Practice Fusion and digital engagement platforms such as Allscripts FollowMyHealth.
Dive Insight:
Products that don't meet certification requirements are required by ONC to have developers partner with the Authorized Certification Body to develop a corrective plan, which must include:
- A summary of the non-conformities of the health IT product
- An evaluation of the scale of the issues in regards to other products and users
- A description of how the developer will manage problems and a timeframe for resolving them
- Ensuring all affected users and customers are notified and have non-conformities resolved
Corrective action plans will be published on a weekly basis on the certified health IT product list. If a developer fails to resolve an issue, ONC will suspend or terminate the product's certification.
Although some groups support ONC's efforts to increase healthcare transparency, others have found the program too punitive.
The Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) wrote in a letter earlier this month that the group, "encourages ONC to use this rule to promote a climate of continuous improvement through policy actions rather than punitive approaches that focus on certification suspension and/or termination processes."
Also earlier this month, CMS proposed a rule that would provide ONC with the authority to review certified health IT products, which has spread concerns among professionals that the administration would extend its reviews beyond certified capabilities.
