MECHANICSBURG, Pa., Jan. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon, is now officially authorized and accredited to begin certifying electronic health records for the next stage of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Meaningful Use requirements. 

The new 2014 Edition, Stage 2 certification program of HHS's Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology provides more transparency and elevates the overall testing and certification process by mandating additional requirements for organizations providing EHR services. These requirements include a strengthening of security, enhanced interoperability for facilitating health information exchange, better protection of private patient information and new ways for providers to become "meaningful users."

Last September, ICSA Labs received authorization from the Office of the National Coordinator for the preliminary Stage 2 of the certification program.   

To test and validate the ONC 2014 Edition methods and test tools, ICSA Labs successfully conducted a week-long pilot program in December with four vendors that offer EHR-related solutions supporting the more rigorous Stage 2 Meaningful Use Requirements. These included Dynamic Health IT and Glenwood Systems.

"The latest round of federal requirements will enable us to help companies strengthen the security and privacy of their EHR offerings, ultimately benefitting both patient and health care provider," said Amit Trivedi, health care program manager for ICSA Labs. "Now that we are fully authorized and accredited to certify and test technology meeting the permanent Meaningful Use requirements, we are officially open for business."

EHR vendors also must have their products tested by laboratories accredited by the National Voluntary Lab Accreditation Program and certified by bodies authorized by the ONC and accredited by the American National Standards Institute. ICSA Labs is accredited by both NVLAP and ANSI.

The ONC's Health Information Technology Certification program, which provides authorization for the certification of electronic health care records, was established in January 2011.  The recently published Stage 2 Standards, Implementation Specifications and Certification Criteria Final Rule is administered nationally by the ONC. 

ICSA Labs is NVLAP- accredited as a Health IT Test Lab and is also an ONC-Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB) accredited by ANSI to ISO/IEC Guide 65.

About ICSA Labs
ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon, offers third-party testing and certification of security and health IT products, as well as network-connected devices, to measure product compliance, reliability and performance for many of the world's top security vendors.  ICSA Labs is an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited and 9001:2008 registered organization. Visit http://www.icsalabs.com and http://www.icsalabs.com/blogs for more information.

About Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with nearly 96 million retail customers nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500. A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 184,500. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

SOURCE Verizon