ARRA vendor guarantees

[Robe 411]

With all the talk about how IT vendors can get hospitals to "meaningful use", is anyone aware of any guarantees vendors are stating should they be selected. For instance, are they promising in writing to be CCHIT certified by a particular date or promising to have a capability gap filled by a certain date. GE just announced some guarantees for certification, what about the other big 5 - Epic Eclipsys, Cerner, McKesson or Meditech?

[Blackhat]

I mean, most software companies will have payment terms revolving around functonality or software GA if the product is pre-GA.

Are you wondering if vendors are stating they'll be compliant, so the hospital is guaranteed to be eligible for ARRA funds?

I really doubt they'd do that, since then they'd be on the hook for the difference if the hospital doesn't qualify.

[Robe 411]

I know that GE has specific language, actually posted on their website, that they guarantee they will make every effort to meet certification requirements. If they fail to certify they will credit the customer for some support fees. Thus I was wondering what the others were doing.