Vendor/Implementer Technical Details

National Health Care Surveys Implementation Guide

The information provided in this section is based on the 2015 Edition Health IT certification criteria. 45 CFR 170.315(f)(7), Transmission to Public Health Agencies – Health Care Surveys, an electronic health records incentives program criterion, is included in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Stage 3 final rule and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) 2015 Edition final rule.

The standards and format for 45 CFR 170.315(f)(7), Transmission to Public Health Agencies – Health Care Surveys is:

• HL-7 CDA documents as described by the Implementation Guide for the National Health Care Surveys which are the preferred format for submission of data and the format required for Stage 3 accreditation for this measure. The Implementation Guide for the National Health Care Surveys.

Certification/Testing Procedures and NIST Validator

Additional guidance is available on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) 2015 Edition Test Method web page and provides the certification requirements set forth under the ONC Health IT Certification Program:

• Certification Companion Guide*
• Testing Procedures and
• Testing Tool: NIST’s HL7 CDA National Health Care Surveys Validator

* Important Note: According to the May 2017 Certification Companion Guide, “ONC will permit and provide testing and certification for conformance to NHCS IG Release 1.2 to meet this criterion.” While vendors already certified to Release 1 are not required to certify to Release 1.2, Release 1.2 is NCHS’s preferred version of the Implementation Guide, and reflects vendor community comments for improvement over earlier versions.

National Health Care Surveys Testing Tool Google Group

This Google Group is for technical support of the National Health Care Survey Testing Tool.