COMMUNITY COMPUTER SERVICE, INC. RECEIVES 2007 CCHIT CERTIFICATION FOR MEDENT V17

Software complies with 100 percent of updated 2007 certification criteria

AUBURN, NY (July 11, 2007) – The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHITSM) today announced that Community Computer Service, Inc.’s product MEDENT V17 is CCHIT CertifiedSM, and meets the Commission’s ambulatory electronic health record (EHR) criteria for 2007. Ambulatory EHRs are designed for physician offices and clinics where most Americans get their healthcare. CCHIT is a Recognized Certification Body in the United States for certifying health information technology products – an independent, nonprofit organization that sets the benchmark for EHRs.  In the second year of the program’s operation, additional criteria and testing have been added, most notably the capability of sharing information with other healthcare entities.

As a CCHIT Certified product, MEDENT V17 has been tested and passed inspection of 100 percent of a set of updated criteria for:

1. functionality (ability to create and manage electronic records for all patients, as well as automating  workflow in a physician’s office),
2. interoperability (ability to receive and send electronic data to other entities such as pharmacies and laboratories), and
3. security (ability to keep patients’ information safe).

The CCHIT Certified mark — a “seal of approval” for EHR products — provides the first consensus-based, consistent benchmark for ambulatory products. By looking to products with the CCHIT Certified seal, physicians and other providers can be assured they are making a reliable investment and insurers and other payers know the products meet expected industry standards. 

“Physicians who purchase certified products have the assurance that they have been reviewed by a panel of judges, including practicing physicians, and that they are being evaluated against standards set by professionals in the field and successfully piloted with products from large and small companies,” said Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D., chair, CCHIT. “The quality and safety of EHR products can now be measured using certification criteria that were developed specifically for that purpose.”

The goals of CCHIT product certification are to reduce the risk of HIT investment by physicians and other providers; ensure interoperability of HIT products; enhance the availability of HIT adoption incentives from purchasers and payers; and protect the privacy of personal health information.

CCHIT’s certification compliance criteria and its design for a certification inspection process have been thoroughly researched, taking into account the state of the art of EHRs and available standards, and comparing certification processes in other industries and other countries. The inspection process is based on real-life medical scenarios designed to test products rigorously against the clinical needs of providers and the quality and safety needs of healthcare consumers and payers. One script, for example, recreates a scenario of an elderly man with poorly controlled diabetes, hypertension and other chronic conditions in order to test EHR functions such as potential adverse drug reactions, disease management and treatment plans.

About Community Computer Service, Inc.
Community Computer Service, a privately held corporation located in Central New York, has been in the health care automation market since 1967. With MEDENT, its All-In-One software package, Community Computer Service incorporates Electronic Medical Records and Practice Management tools designed to help a practice achieve the “Paperless Office”.
Community Computer Service is organized to deliver the long-term complete solution. We offer the software, hardware, installation, training, ongoing support, and supplies to our customers throughout the states we currently service: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

About CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHITSM) is an independent, nonprofit organization that has been named by the federal government as a Recognized Certification Body for electronic health record products. Its mission is to accelerate the adoption of health information technology by creating a credible, sustainable product certification program. The certification requirements are based on widely accepted industry standards and involve the work of hundreds of expert volunteers and input from a variety of stakeholders throughout the health care industry. More information on CCHIT and CCHIT CertifiedSM products is available at www.cchit.org.