Am I missing something here, or doesn’t microblogging, blogging, FriendFeed Facebook and a litany of other real time connections now available with more robust engagement options, dwarf these legacy mechanisms?

Good catch Gilles!

http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2009/06/open-letter-to-mark-leavitt-chairman.html

So, would this bill be different if it said that HIT software had to be certified by a company that met X-Y-Z criteria, but not specify which company?

The easy way out for physicians I’m sure is to simply not accept insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid.

1) it provides CCHIT a monopoly on deciding which health information systems are allowed to be used in New Jersey. There do not appear to be any requirements for CCHIT’s certification process to be subject to review, nor for it to be impartial.

2) It guarantees an exclusive revenue stream for CCHIT to handle the certification process, which typically runs in the four or five figures.

3) It virtually guarantees delays on the rollout of new technology, as brand-new EHR systems are subjected to CCHIT review.

4) It provides no guarantee that CCHIT can even keep up with current technologies. Should someone develop a true paradigm-shifting health IT system, it would very likely be held up by CCHIT’s inability to certify new technologies.

5) For the provider of any PHR on the Internet, this bill creates a jurisdictional nightmare, as HealthVault, Dossia, and GoogleHealth would have to freeze every New Jersey user account until they receive CCHIT certification. Should they choose not to comply, they would have to make users sign disclaimers that they are not New Jersey residents.

6) CCHIT certification makes it nearly impossible to componentize EHR technologies into plug-and-play parts, a practice commonly used in the open source community.

If this bill were passed, it would become needlessly costly and difficult for a startup firm to develop a new EHR, for say, small rural physician practices. It makes and open source approach impractical for developing new EHRs, cutting the industry off from a good source of inexpensive innovation.

This bill is a blatant attempt by established HIT vendors to lock out competition through CCHIT. Let’s hope it doesn’t succeed.