ICSA Labs Among First to Achieve ANSI Guide 65 Accreditation as Electronic Health Record Certification Body

MECHANICSBURG, Pa., July 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon, has received accreditation from the American National Standards Institute as a Health IT certification body.  This accreditation allows ICSA Labs to apply for authorization from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to certify electronic health records for Stage 2 Meaningful Use testing, which is anticipated to begin this fall.

ICSA Labs offers an EHR certification and testing program that evaluates and certifies EHR technology, based on HSS' "meaningful use" requirements. These requirements ensure that EHRs used by health care facilities are helping to promote quality care, reduce health care operational costs and protect private patient information. ICSA Labs is currently authorized to test and certify EHR technology as part of the Stage 1 Temporary Certification program.

"With the ANSI accreditation, ICSA Labs has demonstrated its capabilities as an unbiased and credible certification body," said Lane Hallenbeck, vice president, accreditation services, for the American National Standards Institute. "This validates ICSA Labs' independent quality-management systems and overall competency to certify health information technology."

Amit Trivedi, health care program manager for ICSA Labs, said, "ICSA Labs is looking forward to continuing our role as a trusted third-party certifying secure and interoperable EHR technology that supports health care providers in meeting today's federal requirements.  This accreditation demonstrates our commitment to quality and excellence."

The Health and Human Services Department's Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is the principal federal entity charged with coordination of nationwide efforts to implement and use the most advanced health information technology and the electronic exchange of health information.  The ONC's Permanent Certification Program, which provides authorization for the certification of electronic health care records, was established in January 2011.

About ANSI

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations. The Institute represents the diverse interests of more than 125,000 companies and organizations and 3.5 million professionals worldwide. The Institute is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and is a U.S. representative to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

About ICSA Labs

ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), 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.

SOURCE Verizon