FARMINGTON, Conn., Oct. 22, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), a non-profit standards development organization and accrediting body for organizations that electronically exchange healthcare data, announced today that the first draft criteria for its newest accreditation program is now released for public review and comment. EHNAC seeks interested parties to provide opinions, comments and suggestions with regard to the necessity, appropriateness and workability of the Accountable Care Organization Accreditation Program (ACOAP) criteria proposed for adoption.
The open process for adopting criteria will last 60 days, commencing on Oct. 22, 2014 and ending on Dec. 22, 2014. Visit www.ehnac.org for more details or to review the latest EHNAC criteria and submit feedback during this comment period.
The EHNAC criteria for each of its accreditation programs sets the foundational requirements for measuring an organization's ability to meet federal and state healthcare reform mandates such as HIPAA, Omnibus, ARRA/HITECH, ACA and other mandates for covered entities and business associates focusing on the areas of privacy, security, confidentiality, best practices, procedures and assets.
ACOAP recognizes excellence on the part of ACOs and related IT service organizations by assessing network infrastructure and exchange connectivity. In addition, the accreditation program focuses on technical performance, business processes and resource management, as well as other key performance quality metrics from areas such a population health, care coordination and other facets to establish trust with all stakeholders within the ACO environment.
The ACOAP advisory committee includes executive representatives from Alameda Health System, BluePrint Healthcare IT, Bricker & Eckler, CCIN, HEALTHEC, Medicity, the Maryland Healthcare Commission, the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium, MGMA, NJ-HITEC and more including other major national ACO stakeholder organizations.
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.