Editor’s note: The following post is closely based on the work of Michael D. Paquin, President, MDP Group*

In March 2010, the Health Information Management Systems Society Annual Conference, held in Atlanta, attracted over 27,500 attendees and showcased over 900 vendors.

David Blumenthal, MD, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, surprised a packed hall of attendees at HIMSS 2010 with the release of the notice of proposed rule-making on certification.

The certification proposal is the last in a series of three rules mandated under the HITECH Act, part of last February’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, that explain how providers and hospitals can qualify for bonuses for the use of certified healthcare IT.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) unveiled the rules on standards and meaningful use last December. Since then, providers, vendors and other stakeholders have been waiting for the release of the certification rule so they can prepare to qualify for bonuses.

The rule will allow organizations to apply for temporary or permanent authorization to become certification bodies. The ONC is proposing the temporary certification to speed things up because of the looming deadline.

Organizations wishing to apply for a temporary certification will be required “to demonstrate through documentation” that they are qualified to test and certify EHRs for part or all of the meaningful use requirements.

Permanent certification will take longer and require more rigorous qualifications for both testing and certification of EHRs.

Since 2006, the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology has been the only certifying body for EHRs. The HITECH Act has mandated that the federal government establish more certification bodies for the meaningful use proposal.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology will authorize meaningful use certifiers of laboratory products, while the ONC will authorize for meaningful use EHRs for providers and hospitals.

The ONC will accept comments for 30 days on the proposed rule for temporary certification and 60 days for the permanent certification.

*The MDP group under Mr. Paquin’s leadership is made up of a diverse group of specialists that offer software development, marketing, sales, IT, management team development, product strategy, as well as EMR selection strategy for healthcare providers.

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