CMS seeks test EHRs

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is seeking several test EHRs for the agency to use in the Meaningful Use (MU) Stage 2 attestation process.

According to a June 17 notice, as part of the MU Stage 2 transition of care objective, entities will be required to either successfully conduct an electronic exchange of a summary of care document with a recipient using a different EHR technology, or conduct successful tests with the ONC-designated test EHR during the EHR reporting period. 

For entities that will pursue the latter path, the ONC now is formally seeking designated test EHRs and is encouraging the vendor community to participate. According to the notice, the Center for Medicaid & Medicare Services and ONC have identified a minimum set of technical capabilities required to serve as a test EHR, which will be registered on a software system hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This system will randomly match an entity with a designated test EHR to ensure compliance with the MU requirement.