For the Record: AAO on CCHIT

For those interested, here is the American Academy of Ophthalmology's official stance on CCHIT with respect to eye care:

The 2007 Ambulatory EHR Criteria represent basic requirements that the Commission and its workgroups believe are appropriate for many common ambulatory care settings. CCHIT acknowledges that these criteria may not be suitable for settings such as behavioral health, emergency departments, or specialty practices and our current certification makes no representation for these. Purchasers should not interpret a lack of CCHIT Certification as being of significance for specialties and domains not yet addressed by CCHIT Criteria.

Currently, there is no eye care specialty CCHIT certification. The current process for testing is not designed for eye care only EHR vendors, and they cannot participate in the process. A lack of current CCHIT certification does not have significance for eye care specialty needs. Current CCHIT certification means that the system satisfies basic ambulatory care needs. Practices need to look at different systems and how they best meet your needs in delivering eye care services.

From Flora Lum, M.D.
Quality of Care and Knowledge Base Development, AAO