EHNAC Announces Legislative Crosswalk Initiative

Effort to identify synergies and gaps between accreditation programs and current healthcare reform legislation

FARMINGTON, Conn. – August 18, 2009 – The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), a non-profit standards development organization and accrediting body, today announced the development of a legislative crosswalk matrix. The initiative will identify synergies and gaps in EHNAC program criteria with regards to how they relate to security and privacy regulations within current federal and certain state healthcare reform legislation.

The legislative crosswalk initiative is a comprehensive review of current reform efforts at both the federal and state level, such as those outlined in ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act and other legislation. EHNAC commissioners have been reviewing the key provisions of these initiatives against the criteria of every accreditation program currently offered by EHNAC and they have determined that such a comprehensive review will continue to align EHNAC criteria with that of all the key federal and state legislative provisions. Further, EHNAC has identified three main objectives:

1. Ensure that EHNAC program criteria meet the latest standards outlined in current federal and state legislation;
2. Better align and revise EHNAC program criteria as needed to meet these new standards;
3. Be better equipped to provide information on HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) and PHI (Personal Health Information) security concerns to current and future accredited companies.

“The implications of the federal and state legislative requirements within ongoing healthcare reform will have a dramatic and longstanding effect on our industry and related vertical markets,” said Lee Barrett, executive director of EHNAC. “Because EHNAC’s programs reach such a diverse cross-section of healthcare stakeholders, including electronic health networks, payers, financial services firms, hospitals, physicians, consumer groups, security organizations and vendors, our commissioners have taken a leadership role and have been working on this initiative for some time now.”

The EHNAC legislative crosswalk committee, made up of EHNAC commissioners and other industry executives, is currently developing and highlighting a series of enhancement recommendations for EHNAC program criteria in a matrix and report. Any proposed changes to the EHNAC program criteria will be fully vetted and managed by the criteria committee upon approval of the matrix work by the commission. The submission date of these documents is planned for late September, after which it will
be distributed for public comment.

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 electronic health networks, payers, financial services firms and e-prescribing solution providers. 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 or contact info@ehnac.org.