After hearing the news about CCHIT shutting down it’s EHR certification business, I thought it would be interesting to interview ICSA Labs, the EHR Certification body that CCHIT recommended to its users. The following is an interview with George Japak, Managing Director at ICSA Labs.
Is there a backlog of EHR vendors that want to schedule test dates with ICSA labs?
A: There is no backlog. Since ICSA Labs received its ONC authorization, it has been our intent to grow our healthcare programs and offer the best testing and certification program in the industry. Over time we have ramped up our testing team and we have a deep pool of very experienced testers on staff. We have been getting a steady stream of news customers and inquiries and expect the CCHIT announcement will accelerate the pace. At this point we have the capacity to test applicants as they are prepared to do so.
Is ICSA Labs able to support the onslaught of EHR companies that will come over from CCHIT? Will that cause any delays on getting EHRs certified?
A: ICSA Labs at this point does not anticipate any delays. The ONC program was designed so that vendors and product developers would have a choice when it came to testing and certification. We were not the first lab to be authorized, but we knew that given the opportunity we would be able to deliver a program where customers would experience high satisfaction.
In my post, I suggested that the economics of EHR certification aren’t all that great. Especially if you have a legacy cost structure like CCHIT. Is the secret to ICSA’s success having a broader certification business beyond just EHR?
A: ICSA Labs has been in business since 1989, we have a number of accreditations to support an array of certification and testing programs, such as the IHE USA Certification program which just kicked off its second year at the 2014 IHE North American Connectathon. Our business is diverse and we leverage our capabilities across our business. We are used to doing business in competitive markets, so it has always been important for our programs and cost structure to emphasize efficiency and effectiveness and those benefits are passed onto our customers. Our testing and certification programs have always been competitively priced and efficient yet rigorous and done superior quality.
How much more complex is 2014 EHR certification compared with 2011 from an ONC-ACB perspective?
A: As any recently certified company can attest to, the 2014 Edition criteria are significantly more complicated than the 2011 Edition. There are more test tools to maintain; more test data sets to review; frequent revisions and updates to the criteria and additional types of attestation to review. The time to complete testing has close to doubled and there are more requirements as they pertain to surveillance. After the 2011 Edition criteria, ICSA Labs asked for ONC to raise the bar, and they did. For ICSA Labs the added complexity was not unexpected.
The timelines for meaningful use stage 2 are starting to get squeezed. Will the majority of EHR vendors be 2014 certified and ready in time?
A: There will always be stragglers, but I believe a majority of EHR vendors will be 2014 certified and ready in time for Meaningful Use 2. There has been an uptick in the vendors getting certified over the last few months. Providers and hospitals however are a different story, and they may feel the squeeze in terms of the timeline to purchase, implement and begin meaningfully using their EHR system. ONC extended the Stage 2 timeline to relieve some of that pressure.
I’ve heard that in some cases the ONC-CPHL has been slow at putting up newly certified EHRs. Have you seen this? Do you have a bunch of 2014 certified EHR vendors that haven’t been listed on ONC-CPHL yet?
A: The ONC-CHPL is generally responsive to our concerns and we work with them as they continue to refine new features like links to the public test results summary.
