Pilot Participants NextGen Healthcare, Office Practicum and PCC to Help Assess, Finalize Test Structure and Test Scripts
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – May 24, 2022 – Drummond Group LLC today announced the launch of its Pediatric Health IT Certification Program and pilot initiative to build upon the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)’s guidelines for voluntary certification of electronic health records (EHRs) utilized by pediatric health providers.
Upon completion of the pilot project in July, Drummond will use the results and feedback from several participating health IT companies – including NextGen Healthcare, Office Practicum and PCC – to finalize the test scripts which are based upon the 10 recommendations from the ONC in its 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule, the HL7 Pediatric Care Health IT Functional Profile R2.1 published in May 2022, and the Agency for Healthcare Research (AHRQ) Children’s EHR Format 2015 Priority List to advance child health, such as through interoperable immunization data for health systems, schools and public health agencies.
Drummond’s Pediatric Health IT Certification Program was created in response to the voluntary Pediatric Health IT certification outlined in the ONC 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule and significantly expands requirements to address pediatric clinician needs and improve child health outcomes.
“Working with numerous stakeholders over the last two years, Drummond’s newest program will offer health IT software developers an innovative, premium certification service to comprehensively address pediatric testing,” said Ryan Patano, Drummond’s president. “It will complement and expand upon existing pediatric health IT work, including recommendations from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), ONC and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and HL7. We believe it will serve as an ideal foundation to test and/or certify health IT software to deliver better screening tools for accurate tracking and lead to safer medication use, improved communication and knowledge about growth and development, and overall improvements in the management of children with special health care needs, to name a few of its long-term benefits.”
“There is nothing more precious than the health of our nation’s children,” said David Sides, president and chief executive officer at NextGen Healthcare. “That’s why we committed to participating in Drummond’s voluntary Pediatric Health IT Certification Program pilot. As the first EHR developer to certify a complete EHR solution to the 2015 Edition Cures Update criteria, we understand the peace of mind that a third-party certification gives providers. Pediatricians and parents should have confidence their EHR meets the highest standards.”
“As the market’s only pediatric-specific ONC certified EHR, Office Practicum is honored to contribute to the development of Drummond’s pediatric health IT certification program. Now more than ever, pediatricians need technology they can trust to deliver quality care across a wide range of childhood treatment applications,” said Kraig Brown, Office Practicum chief executive officer. “The Drummond program is a natural complement to our interoperability solutions developed in support of and in compliance with the 21st Century Cures Act.”
“Healthcare’s main focus has centered on adult medicine with children’s unique needs often an afterthought,” said Chip Hart, director of pediatric solutions at PCC. ”A partner to pediatricians in independent practice, PCC was thrilled to participate in the development of pediatric certification and we look forward to delivering meaningful, child health-specific features and functionality to pediatricians.”
This testing and certification program will:
- Provide a Drummond Certified certification seal to health IT software that successfully pass the use cases, and are therefore recognized for excellence in pediatrics testing
- Allow health IT vendors to differentiate themselves in the marketplace by demonstrating advanced capabilities that go beyond baseline certifications
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