ONC approved the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's HIMSS-Immunization Integration Program as an alternative testing method to the Health IT Certification Program, according to an Oct. 17 blog post by Steven Posnack, director of the agency's Office of Standards and Technology.
The HIMSS-IIP can now serve as an alternative to the current ONC-approved method for testing data transmission into immunization registries. The HIMSS-IIP testing method uses an open-source tool developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and includes validations for clinical workflow and reliability, among other functions.
HIMSS created the HIMSS-IIP in collaboration with ICSA Labs and Chickasaw Health Consulting under a contract with the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The goal of the program is to streamline the integration of immunization-related capabilities in EHRs.
The HIMSS-IIP is the second industry-developed testing method approved by ONC. The agency approved the National Committee for Quality Assurance's electronic clinical quality measure in June.