Types of Testing for EHR Rollouts

Testing your EHR implementation is one of the most important phases of the EHR roll-out. There are different types and theories of testing and the article below attempts to explain the process behind some of them.

Build Verification

An analyst should keep a build verification checklist as the move through building out the design session. The Build Activity Workbook is a good example of a way to track build verification and progress. The master copy should be stored where it can be accessed by analysts and managers working on the project.

Unit Testing

Unit testing is simply testing the module or feature the analyst/developer is implementing for defects and bugs. The Unit Testing should be done by someone other than the analyst responsible for the build (for quality assurance reasons) in most organizations. Unless instructed by your lab vendor, the testing of each order code is not necessary, but testing each scenario for the different types of orders is important in a unit test (for example, Additional Order Entries, Hold for Financial Authorization, etc.). A successful unit test means that each decision point from a design session, or build document is functioning as expected.

Tips for unit testing:

Unit testing for an organization can be standardized for a more agile and prompt rollout. A unit test system should declare what exactly the component or module is and the associated decisions points with their corresponding settings in the system. Accompanying screen shots will help validate Unit Testing.

System Degradation Testing

Testing degradation of the system simply means verifying new functionality integrates with old functionality. Testing for degradation can be complex when considering many organizations now roll-out modules and features as they are completed (resulting in roll-outs in rapid succession for some organizations). For example, if your organization is live on tasking and is adding results verification process, a form of degradation testing would mean verifying the new tasklist/worklist for results verification will also include items that the provider/staff may already be working. Detailed and accurate workflows are blueprints to building the application and having accurate workflows laid out in Visio will help with testing new functionalities integration with old functionality.

Workflow/Functionality Testing/End to end Testing

Workflow testing means testing entire workflows with old and new integrated features from end to end. If build verification, unit testing, and degradation testing is complete then the Workflow testing can/should be done for user acceptance. For the EHR rollout the workflow testing should include all different visit types.