Quest Diagnostics, Madison, NJ, introduces the first electronic health record (EHR) solutions to be certified under its Health IT Quality Solutions™ Program.
The program is designed to recognize EHR solutions for achieving quality standards for data management and interoperability with the Quest Diagnostics clinical laboratory data system used by physician practices in the United States.
"Laboratory data provides a significant basis for health care decisions made by clinicians for patients," said Keith C. Drake, PhD, Health IT Quality Solutions Program Executive, Quest Diagnostics. "Yet, a lack of clear implementation and interoperability standards by which EHR systems transact and manage laboratory data hampers the ability of physicians to experience fully the capabilities of different EHR solutions. The Quest Diagnostics Health IT Quality Solutions program builds on our expertise as the leading provider of diagnostic testing with significant capability in health information technologies. Through this program, we expect to help assure physicians that the EHR solution they choose will facilitate effective laboratory data interoperability and a quality experience meeting their clinical and business needs."
To date, 20 EHR solutions have been certified as Gold or Silver under the Health IT Quality Solutions Program (listed alphabetically):
* Gold Certified: Aprima PRM; CompuGroup Medical LabDaq; eClinicalWorks ELINCS; Emdeon Clinician; HealthFusion MediTouch EHR; iSalus Healthcare OfficeEMR; LabSoft Lighting; Meditab IMS (Intelligent Medical Software); and Office Ally EHR.
* Silver Certified: Advanced Data Systems DocAssistant; Comtron Corporation Medgen EHR; CyFluent; Data Strategies MDSuite; E*Healthline Phoenix; iPatientCare EMR; MDLand iClinic System; NCG Medical Perfect Care EHRLite; OneTouch EMR, Orchard Software Harvest and Copia; Stratus EMR; Tecnex Systems; and VIP Medicine SmartClinic.
"Our ‘freshman class’ of Silver and Gold EHR solutions have achieved our criteria for high quality, and we expect to certify additional EHRs, including in the Platinum category, by the end of 2012. We are proud to welcome these exceptional vendors into our program," Drake added.
EHRs are increasingly used by physician practices and other health care providers in the United States for the management of clinical patient data, including diagnostic data. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 55% of physicians had adopted an EHR in 2011, and half cited being alerted to a critical lab value as a key EHR benefit.
Vendors of EHR and other clinical technology may qualify for its Silver and Gold certification levels under the Quest Diagnostics program by meeting increasingly stringent criteria for capacity, implementation process, and other factors that deliver clinical and operational quality for physician practices that use Quest Diagnostics for clinical laboratory testing.
Silver EHR solutions incorporate advanced functionality for processing lab orders and results; Gold EHR solutions provide enhanced implementation processes as well as advanced functionality. At the Program’s elite tier, vendors with Platinum EHR solutions enjoy a strategic alignment of technology and operational best practices with Quest Diagnostics.
Click here for more information on the program, including certification criteria.
[Source: Quest Diagnostics]
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