NextGen EMR Receives 2007 CCHIT Certification
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHITSM) today announced that NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc.’s product NextGen® EMR version 5.4.29 is CCHIT CertifiedSM and meets the Commission’s ambulatory electronic health record (EHR) criteria for 2007. NextGen EMR is in the first group of office-based EHRs to be re-certified against the expanded 2007 criteria. Ambulatory EHRs are designed for physician offices and clinics where most Americans get their healthcare. CCHIT is a Recognized Certification Body in the United States for certifying health information technology products — an independent, nonprofit organization that sets the benchmark for EHRs. In the second year of the program’s operation, additional criteria and testing have been added, most notably the capability of sharing information with other healthcare entities.
As a CCHIT Certified product, NextGen EMR has been tested and passed inspection of 100 percent of a set of updated criteria for:
functionality (ability to create and manage electronic records for all patients, as well as automating workflow in a physician’s office),
interoperability (ability to receive and send electronic data to other entities such as pharmacies and laboratories), and
security (ability to keep patients’ information safe).
The CCHIT Certified mark — a “seal of approval” for EHR products — provides the first consensus-based, consistent benchmark for ambulatory products. By looking to products with the CCHIT Certified seal, physicians and other providers can be assured they are making a reliable investment and insurers and other payers know the products meet expected industry standards.
“Physician who purchase certified products have the assurance that they have been reviewed by a panel of judges, including practicing physicians, and that they are being evaluated against standards set by professionals in the field and successfully piloted with products from large and small companies,” said Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D., chair, CCHIT. “The quality and safety of EHR products can now be measured using certification criteria that were developed specifically for that purpose.”
“We’re honored to be one of the very first vendors to earn 2007 CCHIT certification,” said Patrick Cline, President of NextGen Healthcare. “We believe it’s important for our customers to know that NextGen EMR has the features and capabilities to pass the latest, most stringent, industry-accepted testing available. We hope and expect that as the Certification Commission raises the bar year after year, that NextGen Healthcare will continue to rise to the top and physicians will know that when they invest in NextGen EMR, they are purchasing a system that will not only meet their needs now but also well into the future.”
The goals of CCHIT product certification are to reduce the risk of HIT investment by physicians and other providers; ensure interoperability of HIT products; enhance the availability of HIT adoption incentives from purchasers and payers; and protect the privacy of personal health information.
CCHIT’s certification compliance criteria and its design for a certification inspection process have been thoroughly researched, taking into account the state of the art of EHRs and available standards, and comparing certification processes in other industries and other countries. The inspection process is based on real-life medical scenarios designed to test products rigorously against the clinical needs of providers and the quality and safety needs of healthcare consumers and payers. One script, for example, recreates a scenario of an elderly man with poorly controlled diabetes, hypertension and other chronic conditions in order to test EHR functions such as potential adverse drug reactions, disease management and treatment plans.
About NextGen Healthcare
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII), develops and markets computer-based practice management and electronic medical records systems for medical group practices. Please visit www.nextgen.com and www.qsii.com for additional information.
About CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHITSM) is an independent, nonprofit organization that has been named by the federal government as a Recognized Certification Body for electronic health record products. Its mission is to accelerate the adoption of health information technology by creating a credible, sustainable product certification program. The certification requirements are based on widely accepted industry standards and involve the work of hundreds of expert volunteers and input from a variety of stakeholders throughout the health care industry. More information on CCHIT and CCHIT CertifiedSM products is available at www.cchit.org.
“CCHITSM” and “CCHIT CertifiedSM” are service marks of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology.
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