For all the criticism and wiseacres about CCHIT, I have yet to see ANYONE provide a REASONABLE ALTERNATAVE to CCHIT as a means of ensuring some degree of UNIFORMITY of standards across the spectrum of electronic health records and the entities they serve:
1) Patients
2) Clinicians
3) Hospitals
4) Labs
5) Pharmacies/Dispensaries
There are not only HUGE COMPETING interest on the User Side but there are also multiple competing interests on the VENDOR side of the table. Each and every vendor tries to make it nearly impossible for a practitioner to transfer his/her data into a different system.
CCHIT may not be perfect, and it will never be; however, it will approximate a standard which in many ways provides an open path for smaller EHR's like AMAZING CHARTS to enter a market where other vendors, who are much better capitalized are playing, and compete.
At least, BECAUSE OF CCHIT, Jon understands EXACTLY what he needs to do with AC to pass certification, as opposed to having to spend time an money setting his own standards and not having the resources to compete.
So people who decry CCHIT, my question always is, would you rather have nothing? Because that NOTHINGNESS will leave you at the mercy of large EHR vendors and no other options but to pay thru the nose.
Last edited by gkfahnbulleh; 05/23/2009 5:41 PM.
