Hi Benjamin:

If CCHIT were free, easy to set up, and use so as not to increase vendor pricing, then it would be good for the HIT industry. Some things should be regulated by government- CCHIT is one of these items. Leaving the wolves (HIMSS/EHRA) to guard the hen house is NOT a good idea- what the "enterprise" EMRs wish to do is to limit the choices of EMRs to say, 30, then maintain a pricing structure that is 15 to 30 times that of AC. <sigh>

Dr. Winn dislikes the current concept of CCHIT as much as we do; he is just as upset about having to shell out the costs of CCHIT associated programming and development as well as the cost of CCHIT certification. Unfortunately, he is going for the mid-tier market where CCHIT begins to matter more, at least for now.

I agree that the CPT codes should be free, especially because they are used for Medicare billing. Such setups in healthcare are sometimes very peculiar.

Al

Last edited by alborg; 11/14/2008 5:56 AM.