The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) is a voluntary, private-sector organization formed in July, 2004 with a mission to accelerate the adoption of health information technology by creating an efficient, credible and sustainable product certification program. As part of its mission, the CCHIT has established workgroups to develop standards and criteria for certification of ambulatory and inpatient electronic health records systems, and certification of health information exchanges. These workgroups include: Ambulatory, Inpatient, Network, Foundation, Interoperability, Security, Child Health, Cardiovascular Medicine, Emergency Department, and Privacy & Compliance.
The Center for Health Information Technology actively participates on the Network Workgroup, which is developing criteria for certification and testing of the networks that will be involved in health information exchange. Network certification will support the goals of CCHIT product certification and ensure interoperability of health information technology products and networks. The goals of Network certification are to support the growth and development of health information exchanges (HIEs) and the National Health Information Network (NHIN) by encouraging:
• Growth and development of HIEs;
• Consistent deployment of core and modular functions;
• Reliable interoperability and trust among HIEs and between HIEs and their associated participants;
• Essential security and privacy protections; and
• Predictable level of operational delivery.
