Statement on ONC Health IT Certification Program

Ashley Thompson
Senior Vice President
Public Policy Analysis and Development
American Hospital Association

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) took an important step to strengthen its oversight of certified health IT products. We applaud ONC’s commitment to provide greater transparency on the results of surveillance done by certification bodies and the agency itself. That information will be useful to providers as they evaluate and select products. We also agree that coordination across agencies to avoid provider penalties when an EHR is decertified is a necessary step. The AHA is committed to working with ONC on its process for educating and providing notice to the provider community during investigations of how specific EHRs or other health IT products work in individual hospitals and physician offices.

About the AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.