When CMS announced the proposed rule for stage 3 of meaningful use, the agency also released a proposed rule outlining a new edition of health IT certification criteria to redefine the base EHR definition and modify the ONC Health IT Certification Program to make it more open and accessible to various care settings.
“Building on past rulemakings, this proposed rule further identifies how health IT certification can support the establishment of an interoperable nationwide health information infrastructure,” according to the rule.
A main provision of the proposed rule is the new 2015 Edition Base EHR definition. As part of this new definition, eligible professionals, hospitals and critical access hospitals are relieved of the burden of ensuring their technology is certified to all privacy and security criteria. Instead, that responsibility is placed on the IT developers.
Additionally, CMS proposes to remove the Certified EHR Technology definition, saying it traditionally was defined in a manner aligning with the EHR Incentive Programs. Removing this definition opens the ONC Health IT Certification Program to other types of health IT outside of EHR technology and meaningful use.
Also expanding beyondmeaningful use, the proposed rule seeks to revise the Common MU Data Set definition and change the name to Common Clinical Data Set, further aligning the rule’s attempt to make the ONC Health IT Certification Program more open and accessible.
The rule “incorporates changes that are designed to spur innovation, open new market opportunities and provide more choices to providers when it comes to electronic health information exchange,” it says.
