Vermont technology group initiates EHR system survey

Vermont Information Technology Leaders (VITL) has released a Request for Information (RFI) for EHR systems.

All organizations that received the RFI had EHR systems certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT).

The RFI will assist VITL in developing a list of pre-screened EHRs systems that are optimal for use by small, independent Vermont physician practices.

In July, the VITL board of directors submitted the Vermont Health Information Technology Plan to the Vermont General Assembly and the Douglas Administration, which aimed at statewide usage of electronic health information.

VITL said its RFI is focused on eliciting information about quality of support, standard functionality such as electronic prescription writing, a vendor’s commitment to working with small practices, compliance with industry standards and cost of the systems.

In 2008, VITL said it will conduct a pilot project to assist selected primary care practices with EHR adoption and implementation. In conjunction, VITL said it will issue specific requests for proposals to vendors and value-added resellers that provide and/or implement EHR products on the pre-screened list.
 
RFI responses are due by Nov. 20, and VITL intends to complete pre-screening of the EHR systems by Dec. 19. The list of pre-screened systems will then be published on VITL’s website and distributed to Vermont physician practices.

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