Definitions

Essential Functions: Those functions necessary to the business of the candidate for accreditation. This includes the systems, processes, and personnel that must be reviewed in order to determine compliance with the criteria under review.

Offshore Sites: Essential Function sites at locations other than a state within the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Requirement of Additional Site Visits

An on-site visit will be required for each candidate’s site at which an Essential Function occurs. For each site not in close proximity [1 hour away] to another being reviewed, a separate trip must be scheduled and a full site visit fee plus the related travel expenses will be charged. See “Common Use Vendor Sites” and “Multiple Sites with Common Functions” for possible exceptions and discounts.

Sites Requiring Visit

The following sites will require a visit unless it is demonstrated that such sites have no relevance to the criteria under review.

• Data Centers
• Production Operations
• Network Administration
• Customer Service
• Helpdesk
• Lockbox
• Product Development
• DRP Facilities (If PHI present)
• Backup Media Storage (If BA agreement not in place.)
• Printing Operations
• Scanning Operations

Sites Not Requiring Visit

The following sites will not require a visit unless there is a finding requiring such a review.

• Human Resources
• Hospital Information Services (HIS) solutions
• Practice Management
• Practice Management Services (POMIS) solutions
• Backup Media Storage (If BA agreement in place.)
• Home-based remote employees (Unless PHI is housed or Policies & Procedures are not met)
• Finance

Mutual Use of Outsource Vendor

If multiple candidates outsource Essential Functions to a common unaccredited vendor at a common site, the first candidate will pay the full price for the visit, but all subsequent candidates will pay a site assessment fee for that vendor at a 25% discount. The vendor will be visited once every two years.  [If the vendor is currently accredited there is no visit and no fee for the site visit.]

Outsource Vendor Accreditation

If a candidate outsources Essential Functions to an EHNAC-accredited Outsourcer, that candidate will not be responsible for arranging or paying for any site visits to that vendor.

Offshore Site Policy

Site visits will not be conducted at Offshore Sites. If a candidate has Offshore Sites, their accreditation will be annotated to indicate this.