FARMINGTON, Conn. and RESTON, Va., July 15, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), a non-profit standards development organization and accrediting body, in partnership with the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), today announced the formation of the new Practice Management System Accreditation Program (PMSAP). This February, the two founding organizations announced their intention to develop the newly launched program, which is led by a formal advisory committee and includes three pilot organizations that are in the process of enrolling in the program as candidates.
In addition to WEDI and EHNAC, the PMSAP advisory committee includes executive representatives from AdvancedMD, the American Association of Professional Coders (AAPC), GE Healthcare, the Healthcare Administrative Technology Association (HATA), the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), Medinformatix, NextGen Healthcare and more including other major national provider associations.
"We've received overwhelmingly positive feedback about our initiative to offer the first and only industry standard for practice management systems," said Lee Barrett, executive director of EHNAC. "To us, this is a reaffirmation of what the industry has been wanting, needing and hoping to happen for a long time now. Our accreditation program will allow vendors to demonstrate their adherence to a higher standard of quality, privacy and security, and will create a trustworthy framework with providers and their practice management system vendors."
Three organizations anticipated to participate as pilots — GE Healthcare, Medinformatix and NextGen Healthcare – are currently enrolling in the accreditation program and will provide feedback and recommendations to the advisory committee throughout the process. The three candidate organizations will be evaluated on their compliance with draft criteria, which will then be reviewed and refined prior to the program's public launch anticipated in Q3 2014.
WEDI President and CEO, Devin Jopp, Ed.D. addressed the industry's interest in the program: "For years, the healthcare industry has discussed how to help practice management systems, as non-covered entities, to be up-to-date on new regulations and technologies that their customers are required to use. A WEDI and EHNAC partnership represents a private industry effort to fill this gap and improve healthcare data security and quality. We're honored that so many healthcare leaders have placed their trust in this worthwhile effort – not only those who are serving in advisory roles but also our beta organizations who continue to stay at the forefront of today's push for a more secure, efficient and effective healthcare continuum and assure stakeholder trust."
The accreditation program will offer a comprehensive evaluation of practice management system (PMS) vendors in the areas of privacy, security, mandated standards and operating rules, and key operational functions. Additionally, the PMSAP will assess health information and oversight for meeting privacy and security, HIPAA and ACA requirements, as well as focus on technical performance, business processes and resource management. Additionally, the program will provide a review of the PMS vendor readiness to support and implement ICD-10 in 2015 and therefore a level of assurance to the provider community.
About EHNAC
The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) is a voluntary, self-governing standards development organization (SDO) established to develop standard criteria and accredit organizations that electronically exchange healthcare data. These entities include accountable care organizations, electronic health networks, EPCS vendors, eprescribing solution providers, financial services firms, health information exchanges, health information service providers, management service organizations, medical billers, outsourced service providers, payers, practice management system vendors and third-party administrators.
EHNAC was founded in 1993 and is a tax-exempt 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. Guided by peer evaluation, the EHNAC accreditation process promotes quality service, innovation, cooperation and open competition in healthcare. To learn more, visit www.ehnac.org, contact info@ehnac.org, or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
About WEDI
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is the leading authority on the use of Health IT to improve healthcare information exchange in order to enhance the quality of care, improve efficiency, and reduce costs of our nation's healthcare system. WEDI was formed in 1991 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and was designated in the 1996 HIPAA legislation as an advisor to HHS. WEDI's membership includes a broad coalition of organizations, including: hospitals, providers, health plans, vendors, government agencies, consumers, not-for-profit organizations and standards bodies. To learn more, visit www.wedi.org and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.