The U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has posted a second wave of draft test procedures, applicable tools, and test data files for the 2014 edition of electronic health record (EHR) certification criteria mandated by the stage 2 final meaningful use rule for adoption of electronic medical records.
The test procedures will be used by authorized testing laboratories and certification authorities to evaluate conformance and functionality of both complete EHR software or EHR modules under the ONC HIT certification program. The test procedures are being developed in collaboration with the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The ONC is encouraging and accepting public comment about the draft test procedures during a two-week period commencing the date of publication. It will be adding additional waves of test procedures on a weekly or biweekly basis until all have been posted.
ONC intends to revise and finalize draft test procedures after public comment and review have been completed. The final set of test methods is expected to be available for use in testing and certification in early 2013, according to the ONC. Details of the standards for the 2014 edition were published on September 4, and may be accessed here.
