DG Health Services

Money has for many years been pointed to as one of the hardest-to-clear hurdles en route to greater use of computers in healthcare

Now, however, through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the federal government is encouraging the use of electronic health records (EHRs) by providing billions of dollars in incentives to healthcare providers.

The catch: Providers must demonstrate that they are using these systems in a "meaningful" manner. The catch on top of this first catch: Providers must use systems that are "certified" as capable of providing the features and functionality that can lead to this meaningful use.

And, that's where we come in. In 2012, we were accredited as an Authorized Certification Body (ACB) and an Accredited Test Lab (ATL) within the Office of the National Coordinator Health IT Certification Program. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) oversaw the accreditation for the certification bodies as an ONC-Approved Accreditors (ONC-AA). The National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP), a division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), manages the accreditation program for the testing bodies. As an ACB and ATL, Drummond Group's role will continue to focus primarily on working closely with healthcare information technology developers to test and/or certify their EHR software for use by healthcare providers looking to qualify for incentive funds.

We are approved to test and certify any complete or modular EHR, developed for either ambulatory or inpatient use. Drummond Group tests systems that are developed by healthcare information technology vendors, as well as solutions that are developed or configured by hospitals.

In the ONC Health IT Certification Program, you now have the choice to register for Drummond Group testing, Drummond Certification or both testing and certification. The options are yours to choose – this means it is now possible to change to another testing lab and/or certification body. Through the registration process, your company will be asked to register for testing and certification.