There has been much talk around CCHIT and, specifically, EMRs being certified with the CCHIT stamp of approval. When looking at certification there are many elements that an EMR must posses in order to "pass". Many of the capabilities an EMR needs to posses are functionality requirements and there exists a variation between the functionality requirements for ambulatory care vs those for acute care settings. An important piece centers around medication.
Specific to the ambulatory side, there are functionality requirements that can be provided by a reliable drug data provider. The ability to manage a medication list (including OTCs), management of allergy and adverse reactions, patient education instructions, and most importantly, the ordering of medications introduce the aspect of clinical decision support. Additionally, included in these functionality requirements is the ability to check for drug-to-drug interactions, duplicate therapy, dose range checking, and drug allergies.
There are clearly-defined specifics to the criteria for certification, but should there be better defined rules as to how this should be implemented and how the content is able to be manipulated? For example, physicians have been crying, "Alert Fatigue", since the inception of automated alerts, but there seems to be nothing in the certification guidelines that would address how alerts are displayed, filtered, or the extent to which they can be customized. Is this an issue?
Specific to the ambulatory side, there are functionality requirements that can be provided by a reliable drug data provider. The ability to manage a medication list (including OTCs), management of allergy and adverse reactions, patient education instructions, and most importantly, the ordering of medications introduce the aspect of clinical decision support. Additionally, included in these functionality requirements is the ability to check for drug-to-drug interactions, duplicate therapy, dose range checking, and drug allergies.
There are clearly-defined specifics to the criteria for certification, but should there be better defined rules as to how this should be implemented and how the content is able to be manipulated? For example, physicians have been crying, "Alert Fatigue", since the inception of automated alerts, but there seems to be nothing in the certification guidelines that would address how alerts are displayed, filtered, or the extent to which they can be customized. Is this an issue?
Powered by Compendium
Comments for Certification and Clinical Decision Support for EMRs