Doctor's Office Quality - Information Technology

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Doctors Office Quality - Information Technology or DOQ-IT, is a three-year project intended to provide support to adult primary care physicians who wish to acquire, implement and fully utilize electronic health records (EHR) in their office to improve patient care and safety, and to improve the daily work of the physician and staff.

Delmarva Foundation, the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Maryland and the District of Columbia provides technical assistance and support for participating DOQ-IT practices.  Recruitment for DOQ-IT closed August 1, 2006.

We have created the website as a resource for all physicians interested in EHR adoption and our stakeholder partners.  If you are a physician interested in moving your practice further along in the health information technology age, please use resources available in our website.  We trust you will find much of interest within.

Announcement to Help Speed Adoption of Electronic Health Records

The first round of ambulatory electronic health record products (EHRs) have been certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT), HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced July 18, 2006.  HHS awarded CCHIT a contract in Fall 2005 to develop certification criteria and a certification process.

“This seal of certification removes a significant barrier to wide-spread adoption of electronic health records. It gives health care providers peace of mind to know they are purchasing a product that is functional, and interoperable and will bring higher quality, safer care to patients,” Secretary Leavitt said.

CCHIT certification indicates that EHR products meet base-line levels of functionality, interoperability and security in compliance with CCHIT’s published criteria.  This impartial seal of approval paves the way for adoption of health IT products by limiting the risk associated with investing in health IT.  CCHIT is continuing to evaluate products, and additional results will be announced at the end of the month and quarterly thereafter.

“Volunteers from across the health care spectrum developed CCHIT’s criteria and inspection process, ensuring fairness and balance between the interests of diverse stakeholders,” said Dr. Mark Leavitt, CCHIT Chair.

To learn more about the CCHIT, and for a list of certified products, visit www.cchit.org.

Press release from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services accessed from http://www.hhs.gov/news/

For additional information regarding this project, please contact:

Beth Franklin
Director, Quality Improvement Programs
2175 K Street, NW, Suite 250
Washington, DC 20037
Phone: (202) 496-6542
FAX: (202) 293-3253
E-mail: doqitdelmarva@dfmc.org