Brailer: Support EHR certification

张琨

<p>Brailer: Support EHR certification<br /></p><p>(WASHINGTON) The healthcare community needs to get behind a move to certify electronic health records for the outpatient setting, the government’s health care information technology leader on Tuesday told the 3rd Annual World Health Care Congress in Washington. </p><p>The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, which holds a federal contract to develop a system to certify healthcare IT products, will soon begin certifying ambulatory EHRs. </p><p>“We’re going to see who really supports it and who doesn’t,” said David Brailer, MD. </p><p>Brailer stressed that EHR vendors and providers should support the process to make certification work. </p><p>“A trusted marketplace is a growing marketplace,” said Brailer, who plans to speak to the investment community in the coming weeks about the importance of certification. </p><p>Brailer stressed the need to give public-private sector collaborations such as CCHIT and other healthcare IT projects time to work. He repeated his mantra that a government mandate to adopt EHRs would not improve healthcare quality. But he also said that a total lack of government intervention wouldn’t solve the market failures that have led to a lack of IT adoption in healthcare. </p><p>In an effort to encourage IT uptake in healthcare, the government will soon release exemptions to the Stark and anti-kickback laws that impede hospitals from sharing technology with doctors. The government also plans to award contracts to several states and private groups to examine existing laws that could hinder the exchange of healthcare data. Elsewhere, a government advisory body on May 16 plans to release details of several projects designed to facilitate information sharing in healthcare. </p><p>Still, Brailer warned that it would be a long time before there is a ubiquitous supply of low-cost technology that could help doctors and hospitals share data and that healthcare reform must be larger than IT implementation. </p><p>“It’s up to you all to really help us build, not just an intelligent information system, but an intelligent healthcare system.”<br /></p>