CCHIT Appoints Surescripts COO Rick Ratliff as Commissioner

Alexandria , Va. - October 11, 2007 - SureScripts® today announced that the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHITSM) has named SureScripts chief operating officer Rick Ratliff to its Board of Commissioners.

The Certification Commission is governed by a 21-member Board of Commissioners from healthcare academic and private sector organizations, and governmental agencies. The Commission oversees the work of the Commission's voluntary work groups and expert panels. The roles of the Commissioners are to represent all stakeholders, provide strategic direction, ensure objectivity and credibility, provide guidance to and review the reports of the work groups, and approve the final certification criteria and processes.

"We are honored to welcome Rick Ratliff to our Board of Commissioners, and we look forward to drawing upon his expertise as we move forward in our efforts to accelerate the adoption of robust, interoperable health IT through certification," said Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D., Commission chair.

As chief operating officer for SureScripts, Mr. Ratliff oversees all technology development and advancement, implementation, and customer support efforts, in addition to the development of alliances with strategic physician and pharmacy stakeholders.

The Commission is made up of at least two representatives each from the provider, payer, and vendor stakeholder groups, and at least one from seven other stakeholder groups, including safety net providers, health care consumers, public health agencies, quality improvement organizations, clinical researchers, standards development and informatics experts and government agencies.

Today's announcement expands Ratliff's role within the Certification Commission, where he continues to serve on the network work group. SureScripts support for the Commission extends to other work groups as well: Bob Beckley, SureScripts senior vice president for alliances and product strategy, serves on the Commission's interoperability expert panel.