Work in Progress

The Certification Commission's development process for certification criteria and test scripts, used in its certification programs, has been carefully constructed to be consensus-based, open and transparent. Based upon the guidance of the Office of the National Coordinator and its two advisory committees, and widely accepted industry standards, the Commission’s criteria and scripts represent the requirements EHRs must fulfill to become certified. The development cycle includes the following steps: 

• Work group volunteers are recruited through an open application process, and then brought together for a ‘kick-off’ meeting where they receive broad guidance from the Commission on the organization’s mission, timelines and their scope of work. The groups are also provided with staff-prepared reference material that lays out the available evidence regarding the needs and priorities of all stakeholders in the area being considered as well as recognized standards and market models.
• Work groups create iterative drafts of criteria and test scripts for their area based on their collective expertise, the Commission’s guidance and any supporting material gathered by staff. Drafts are published for public comment; comments are responded to and published.
• Based on comments received, the criteria and test scripts are further refined. In some domains, an alpha test at a single test site may be conducted to further refine the test scripts. In all cases, a full pilot test of the criteria and inspection process is then conducted, with vendors participating in the pilot test chosen randomly from a pool of qualified applicants.
• Following the pilot test, the proposed final criteria and test scripts are published for comment and final adjustments are made. Following Commission approval, the final criteria and test scripts are published before launch of the official certification program, along with a Handbook of program policies.

One of the Commission’s most successful ideas has proven to be its publication of a forward-looking roadmap of certification requirements. By clearly expressing what additional criteria to expect in the future, the roadmap is an effective mechanism for driving enhanced capabilities and standards compliance into the marketplace.