[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 152 (Monday, August 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 47817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19533]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Notice of Availability: Test Tools and Test Procedures Approved 
for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information 
Technology (ONC) Temporary Certification Program

AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information 
Technology, Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and Human 
Services.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 300jj-11.
SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of test tools and test 
procedures approved by the National Coordinator for Health Information 
Technology (the National Coordinator) for the testing of Complete EHRs 
and/or EHR Modules by ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies 
(ONC-ATCBs) under the ONC temporary certification program. The approved 
test tools and test procedures are identified on the ONC Web site at: 
http://healthit.hhs.gov/certification.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Bean, Director, Certification 
Division, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information 
Technology, 202-690-7151.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    On June 24, 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services 
issued a final rule establishing a temporary certification program for 
the purposes of testing and certifying health information technology 
(``Establishment of the Temporary Certification Program for Health 
Information Technology,'' 75 FR 36158) (Temporary Certification Program 
final rule).\1\ The Temporary Certification Program final rule added a 
new ``Subpart D--Temporary Certification Program for HIT'' to part 170 
of title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Section 
170.423(e) of Subpart D requires ONC-ATCBs to ``[u]se test tools and 
test procedures approved by the National Coordinator for the purposes 
of assessing Complete EHRs and/or EHR Modules compliance with the 
certification criteria adopted by the Secretary.'' The preamble of the 
Temporary Certification Program final rule stated that when the 
National Coordinator had approved test tools and/or test procedures ONC 
would publish a notice of availability in the Federal Register and 
identify the approved test tools and test procedures on the ONC Web 
site. As discussed in the Temporary Certification Program final rule, 
we anticipated that test tools and test procedures would not be 
finalized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 
and therefore unable to be considered for approval by the National 
Coordinator, until after the Secretary made publicly available a final 
rule for the initial set of standards, implementation specifications, 
and certification criteria for electronic health record technology.\2\ 
This final rule, ``Health Information Technology: Initial Set of 
Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria 
for Electronic Health Record Technology'' (HIT Standards and 
Certification Criteria final rule) was made available for public 
inspection on July 13, 2010, and was published in the Federal Register 
on July 28, 2010.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The Department issued a proposed rule entitled ``Proposed 
Establishment of Certification Programs for Health Information 
Technology'' (75 FR 11328, March 10, 2010) that proposed the 
establishment of a temporary certification program and a permanent 
certification program and stated the Department's intentions to 
issue separate final rules for each program.
    \2\ The ``Health Information Technology: Initial Set of 
Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria 
for Electronic Health Record Technology'' interim final rule was 
made available for public inspection on December 30, 2009, and 
published in the Federal Register on January 13, 2010 (75 FR 2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The National Coordinator has approved, for use by ONC-ATCBs in 
accordance with 45 CFR 170.423(e), test tools and test procedures 
developed by NIST for testing Complete EHRs and/or EHR Modules to the 
applicable certification criterion or criteria adopted by the Secretary 
in the HIT Standards and Certification Criteria final rule. These 
approved test tools and test procedures are identified on the ONC Web 
site at: http://healthit.hhs.gov/certification.

    Dated: August 2, 2010.
David Blumenthal,
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2010-19533 Filed 8-6-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-45-P