Social Security In Middle Of Electronic Medical Records Shootout

From Nextgov.com:

Certification requirements for $24 million in Recovery Act contracts aimed at automating the Social Security Administration's medical disability program could slow technological innovation, according to Microsoft officials and health information technology specialists.

A solicitation for proposals that the agency issued on Friday -- intended to cut the time it has to wait for medical records to determine disability status -- is open only to providers whose technologies are certified or plan to be certified in 2010, Social Security officials said.

Currently, the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology "is the only recognized certification program; however, other programs are planned for the near future," SSA spokesman Mark Lassiter said.

Critics of the nonprofit CCHIT contend its leaders are closely aligned with legacy IT vendors who helped found the organization in 2004. They argue the group's certification program focuses on old-fashioned two-way document exchange rather than also embracing the so-called continuity of care record (CCR) standard. The CCR aggregates data from multiple sources, such as records of past doctor visits, prior lab results and hospital administrative documents.

Under the Recovery Act, a new health IT standards committee must deliver recommendations on standards and certification criteria to David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health IT.

Aneesh Chopra, the Obama administration's chief technology officer, who sits on the standards committee, said, "I would certainly acknowledge that today's marketplace for exchange is likely a balance between those who exchange between CCR and those who exchange" the format endorsed by CCHIT