The Drummond Group has just officially announced on their blog their intent to apply for and test EHR software to provide an alternative EHR certification to CCHIT. Here’s a few portions of their announcement:

After a thorough review of the recent NPRM along with months of consideration, DGI is excited to announce that we will be applying to be an ONC-ATCB this year.

As mentioned before, receiving the HHS requirements to become an authorized EHR testing and certification body was the missing piece in our decision to move forward. Now that we have that piece, we feel confident in announcing our intention to formally apply.

In our review of the NPRM, we found it sound, reasonable and a big step forward for formal testing and certification criteria to support Health IT. We will offer our comments as requested, but overall it was an excellent effort.

And this point about Drummond Group’s long term plans for EHR certification:

Last point. We won’t spend too much time here on this blog talking about the Permanent Certification program given the more immediate concerns of the Temporary Certification program. We will say we plan on being part of the Permanent Certification program. More importantly, we want to convey that since our initial press release last November, we have known that we are not in EHR testing for the short haul, but rather, the long term.