Large HIT firms have the resources to commit to the complex task of ONC
certification, but providers with internally developed systems do not. To
respond to this, TKG has created a proprietary certification assessment
methodology that will quickly review your situation and streamline your
journey through this new regulatory jungle. We will explain the regulations, the
certification tasks, and the preparation needed for successfully navigating
the process.

Keep in mind although your internal developed applications were most likely
designed to meet your specific operating needs the certification regulations
cover all modalities and specialties of care. As an example, you may be a
specialty provider (such as an ophthalmologist, or heart hospital) that would
have no need to document patient growth charts. But in order to have your
application certified as a full EHR growth charts are a requirement.

Another example is a provider that has modified or built an interface engine.
The engine receives, sends and reformats data from a multitude of vendor or
other systems. When it processes PHI or clinical or quality measure data it
can be compromising your certified vendor EHR system. Most importantly
we will make you aware of such pitfalls and suggest how they can be
addressed or avoided.

We will accomplish this by addressing these issues;
  1. If you have multiple applications do you need more than one           
    certification?
  2. How can you avoid having to get separate inpatient and             
    ambulatory certifications?
  3. Advise whether you should go for full EHR certification, or           
    modular certification, the difference in time and costs can be
    substantial.
  4. Do you use any third party products? Will they help or hinder your
    certification?  
  5. Review the pros and cons of the various ATCBs

TKG will be the project leader in guiding you through the certification
process by:

  • Reviewing and assessing your applications and advising on the best   
    presentation for each to help meet ONC requirements,
  • Identifying gaps and potential problem areas,
  • Explaining how to avoid test problems,
  • Suggesting strategies and tactics to get you through the process as
    quickly and efficiently as possible.
  • Showing you where you can leverage free shareware and third party
    products, and combine tools and applications to your advantage.
  • Preparing your staff for the certification test to improve your probability
    of success and avoid delays and retest fees.
  • Developing a certification plan and timetable with cost parameters you
    can count on.
  • Reviewing your version/release program and recommend revisions in
    order to minimize re-certification as you enhance your product in future
    years.

Costs
The biggest cost of certification is not the fee you will pay the ATCB which
usually runs between $20,000 to 35,000. The real costs are hidden, such as
the lost staff time in learning about the program, moving through the process,
and then repeating tasks as you make the usual miss-steps that will delay
certification and require retests.

Do you really want to add a new project to your already growing backlog? A
complex task your staff has never dealt with? We think not.

As an example we routinely see development staff misunderstand and over
estimate the details and time need to respond to test criteria. In several of
our projects we were able to cut hundreds of hours from the estimated
development time by showing where and how shareware and other third
party products could be used to quickly meet ONC test criteria.

TKG's experience can help you minimize the costs, time and staff
distractions and allow you to keep your staff focused on their primary
objectives of user and systems support and ongoing application
development.

A detailed description of the TKG Certification Assistance program and its
estimated costs will be submitted to you after we complete a phone survey
with your staff.
.



To discuss your situation call 312-303-0577, or  Email






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ONC
Certification
for
Provider
Built and
Maintained
IT Systems

To learn more about why you might want to get certified,
check out : To Certify or Not
The Kelzon Group
Have you extend
or modified a
third party
system?

Do you use
open source
tools or
applications?

Have you made
significant
changes to a
vendor
configured
system?

Do you maintain
your own
interface engine?

Be safe, get
certified.
If you are a systems supplier (not health care provider) interested in
ONCHIT Certification Click here
We have assisted many
organizations through
the certification proces
since its beginning