During
the course of validation testing as well as direct trading partner testing,
both the transaction sender and receiver should be aware of acceptance criteria
expectations. This criteria defines
what levels of test quality are sufficient to move to the next testing phase,
or in the case of direct testing, migration to a production status.
While
the MN HIPAA Collaborative has not attempted to standardize upon a common
acceptance definition accommodating all trading partner exchanges, it does
attempt to make trading partners aware of generalized acceptance testing
recommendations. The following outline
highlights the primary recommended practices which have been referenced in both
the process flow and test profile work products.
q
Utilize
test data which reflects production both in terms of content and format. Failure to do so, can only extend the direct
testing process during which non-compliance will cause your trading partner to
repeatedly require re-validation with a more representative test set.
q
Validation
needs to occur for each transaction which will be submitted (837, 835, 270
etc.)
q
Test
submissions should continue until validation has been noted as successful.
q
Review
the “Pre-Test Conditions” in the Test Readiness section of your trading
partner’s Testing Profile document.
This section will identify any trading partner specific acceptance
criteria such as volume requirements, number of test submissions, WEDI/SNIP
types of compliance etc.
q
A
resource should be identified and available for the direct testing
process. This person will be
accountable for reporting testing issues and reviewing results.
q
Test
data should either be production data
(i.e. production accounts/subscribers/scenarios) or “production-like”
data (i.e. simulated production accounts/subscribers/scenarios) intended for
testing purposes only.
q
Test
with the connectivity methods expected to be used in production.
q
It
is recommended that testing be sequential and contingent upon receipt of any
previous test’s acceptance/rejection reports. Issue resolution should occur
before transmission of a new test.
q
Be
aware of any minimum number of test submissions required by your trading
partner.
q
Be
aware of any volume requirements required by your trading partner.
q
Ensure
a wide-range of representative test scenarios for the most accurate and
complete set of test cases.