ONC Issues Standards and Certification Rule for Stage 2

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released Feb. 24 its proposed rule for the standards and criteria for the certification of electronic health records so physicians and hospitals can be sure that their systems are capable of performing the required functions to demonstrate meaningful use.

Under the proposed rule, vendors and healthcare vendors must make sure that their electronic health records (EHRs) support functions, such as online access for patients to their health information and electronic health information exchange between providers to enable care coordination, patient engagement, security and safety.

Among its requirements, vendors and providers have a single standard instead of options to communicate information in certain transactions. These include Health Level 7 2.51 for lab results, syndromic surveillance, and immunizations.