The federal government has announced a final rule that establishes a process regarding a temporary certification program for the purposes of testing and certifying Health Information Technology (HIT). Under this temporary program, organizations may submit an application to the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) to become an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). The new final rule becomes effective on June 24, the date of publication in the Federal Register.

MEDITECH has reviewed this latest document, and we have determined that it provides instruction and clarification for those entities that are planning to apply to become ONC-ATCBs. However, this document does not outline the criteria and parameters that MEDITECH would use for testing our inpatient system. To that end, we continue to follow the work being done by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and we are keeping track of their plans for criteria and test scripts.

MEDITECH plans to certify its MAGIC 5.64, Client/Server 5.64, and 6.05 Releases as soon as NIST completes its script testing and the ONC-ATCBs have been designated and are open for business. We are also expecting final rules to establish the Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs (including criteria for achieving and demonstrating Meaningful Use) and the adoption of pertinent health information technology standards and EHR certification criteria. We anticipate these final rules will be announced in the coming weeks.