ehr onc final certification - Department of Health Care Services

disclosures. These commenters also indicated that this requirement could have serious
workflow implications unless it can be fully automated.
Response. We recognize the technological challenges associated with effectively
and efficiently addressing this aspect of the standard which some commenters mentioned.
We also recognize that the regulated community is awaiting the proposed rule and
subsequent final rule that will implement important privacy provisions of the HITECH
Act. As we discussed in the Interim Final Rule, we intended to leave Complete EHR and
EHR Module developers with the flexibility to innovate in this area and to develop new
solutions to address the needs of their customers. We anticipated that a “description of
the disclosure” would, at the present time, be a free text field that would have included
any information that could be readily and electronically associated with the disclosure.
For example, we envisioned that some descriptive information could be included such as
the words “treatment,” “payment,” or “health care operations” separately or together as a
general category. We also assumed that Complete EHR and EHR Module developers
could find innovative ways to associate certain electronically available information with
the disclosures, such as, to whom the disclosure was made. Again, for the time being, we
have made this certification criterion optional, and will wait for OCR to promulgate final
regulations for accounting of disclosures, before revisiting whether this certification
criterion should be required.
b. Specific Certification for Complete EHRs or EHR Modules Designed for an
Ambulatory Setting - §170.304
§170.304(a) - Computerized provider order entry
Meaningful Use
Stage 1
Objective
Meaningful Use
Stage 1 Measure
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Certification Criterion