ONC open to non-governmental testing and certification tools, procedures

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has issued a notice encouraging persons or entities to submit non-governmental test procedures, tools and data that may create efficiencies in ONC's testing and certification process for health IT. The notice, published in the Federal Register June 9, points out that ONC is open to additional tools, such as the existing e-prescribing network testing and certification program. The submission of a suggested non-governmental test procedure or tool needs to identify the developer, the process used to develop it and its certification criteria, and must explain how it would evaluate a complete EHR or EHR module. The permanent EHR testing and certification program was created in 2011. The proposed 2015 edition of certification criteria would rename the program from the HIT Certification Program to the Health IT Certification Program. Notice