Overview

The HIT Pro exams were designed to assess the competency of health IT professionals who will be instrumental in the transition to electronic health records (EHRs). The six HIT Pro exams were developed according to industry best practices, and are valid, reliable, and legally defensible assessment instruments.

Competency/Role Teams (CRTs)

The HIT Pro Competency/Role Teams (CRTs) are comprised of experienced health IT leaders, practitioners, and educators representing the six health IT workforce roles on which the exams are based. CRT member responsibilities include participating in the job analyses, reviewing content relevancy, item-level and exam-level performance data, and participating in standard setting exercises.

Job Analyses

Comprehensive job analyses were conducted for each of the six workforce roles. Diverse panels of SMEs were convened to establish the provisional knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for each role. SMEs later created a crosswalk mapping these KSAs to the core curriculum component learning objectives (from the HITECH Community College Consortia Workforce Development program) for each role.

Exam Blueprints & Specifications

When developing the exam blueprints and specifications, items are selected for inclusion on the HIT Pro exams based on how their content maps back to, or measures, a core curriculum component learning objective and / or a task delineated from the job analysis for that respective HIT Workforce role. In the exam blueprints, the domains, which represent specific content areas tested on the exams, are comprised of the core curriculum components for that role. Additionally, the competency statements are comprised of the corresponding curriculum learning objectives.

Item Writing & Development

All items used on each HIT Pro examination are created, reviewed, revised, and ultimately approved by item writers and item reviewers who are health IT subject matter experts (SMEs). These item writers receive extensive training in item writing best practices prior to creating any raw test items.

All draft items undergo a continuous review and revision process, where they are evaluated by SMEs on content accuracy and conformity to the item writing guidelines. Items are also reviewed for linkage or correspondence with a learning objective from a core curriculum component for that respective HIT Workforce role.

Ongoing item management occurs through a continuous process of statistical analysis to ensure items are performing as expected. Poorly performing scored items are replaced with experimental items which meet or exceed our performance criteria. This replacement item must be comparable to the item it is replacing with regards to item difficulty and content assignment.  Poorly performing items may be salvaged and improved through item revision, review, and approval. 

Exam Maintenance & Exam Scoring

Psychometric analysis of item and exam performance is conducted on a continuous basis. This data is used to determine the cut score, or passing standard, using a widely-accepted, best-practice methodology, such as the Modified Angoff method.

The passing scores for each of the HIT Pro exams were determined by a panel of SMEs, including educators and practitioners, who participated in standard setting studies. These standard setting studies were convened to establish the operational definition of the minimally competent candidate, which is used to determine the passing or cut score. A candidate’s performance on an exam which meets or exceeds this cut score will be deemed competent to serve in the relevant workforce role.

To determine an exam’s cut score, the SME panels first defined the minimally qualified candidate. Then, panelists practiced rating exam items for difficulty with respect to their estimation of the proportion of minimally qualified candidates who would answer each item correctly. Panelists then reviewed the entire exam individually and applied the same item evaluation process. The group’s ratings were then averaged across raters and summed to reach the cut score recommendation.

The current passing scaled score for all HIT Pro exams is 500 out of 600. A scaled score is a mathematical conversion of a raw score (number of questions answered correctly). The scaled score is determined by converting the number of questions answered correctly to a scaled score ranging from 300-600. Candidates need a minimum scaled score of 500 to pass a HIT Pro exam.

Below are the pass rates for the beta cohort (those testing before the launch of the live exams with immediate scoring):

Advisory Council

22 industry stakeholders have been appointed to serve on the HIT Pro Advisory Council, which is responsible for advising the HIT Pro exams development team and endorsing the examination blueprints, specifications, and passing standard(s). Advisory Council members bring unique perspectives to the group, as they are affiliated with primary and supporting grant partners, the Curriculum Development Centers, the Community College Consortium, Regional Extension Centers, the Department of Labor, and other industry/employer stakeholder entities.