The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released a second set of draft test procedures to be used for testing and certifying electronic health record systems against the Stage 2 standards and certification criteria for the meaningful use program, Government Health IT reports (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 9/17).
Background
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
In August, HHS announced the release of the final rules on Stage 2 of the meaningful use program. One of the final rules, issued by ONC, describes the Stage 2 standards and criteria for the certification of EHR systems. A fact sheet about ONC's final rule is available on the agency's website (iHealthBeat, 9/10).
On Sept. 7, ONC released its first set of draft test procedures for testing and certifying EHRs against Stage 2 requirements (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 9/17). The first set of draft procedures deals with allergy lists, computerized provider order entry, problem lists and vital signs.
Second Set of Draft Test Procedures
The second set of draft test procedures deals with demographics, patient lists, electronic notes and family history.
Each set of draft test procedures will undergo a two-week comment period following its release (Government Health IT, 9/17). Public comments can be submitted by email to ONC.Certification@hhs.gov and should include "2014 Test Methods" in the subject line (Modern Healthcare, 9/17).