Medicaid Enterprise Certification Toolkit


The Medicaid Enterprise Certification Toolkit (“Toolkit”) was developed to assist states as they plan, develop, test and implement their Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS). The Toolkit has been updated to accommodate modular and agile development, refined certification criteria, a new approach to CMS-State partnership during MMIS development, and to reflect the latest regulations and guidance. A mapping of the 2007 criteria to the new checklist is included in Appendix G.

CMS is dedicated to keeping MECT current with all federal regulation and Medicaid priorities and will continue to publish updated versions to the MECT. It is recommended that states and vendors review and understand the latest guidance in the MECT to ensure compliance.

A cornerstone of the new Toolkit is the updated Medicaid Enterprise Certification Life Cycle (MELC). CMS is leveraging lessons learned from the MECT pilots and is fully implementing it nationally. This approach:

  • Introduces certification milestone reviews throughout the MMIS life cycle so the state receives early feedback about issues that may impede certification.
  • Is aligned to MITA and the standards and conditions for Medicaid IT.
  • Is flexible to fit various state approaches and system development life cycles (agile, waterfall, using commercial-off-the-shelf software, or a hybrid).
  • Expands upon and better defines the role of the IV&V contractor as an unbiased evaluator of the state’s progress toward certification
  • Contains templates and tools to assist in the certification process.

Medicaid Enterprise Certification Toolkit Version 2.1.1 Released

CMS has released version v2.1.1 of the MECT Toolkit. This is a minor release of the Toolkit to bring MECT in line with recent State Medicaid Directors Letters.

Highlights of the v2.1.1 release:

  • Clarification provided for the role of the systems integrator
  • Updated language in Section 1 of 04 MECT 2_1 Appendix C_Std IV&V Language around the use of the term “Department”           

Refer to the MECT 2.1.1 Welcome and Release Notes for detailed information about the changes. Send questions about the MECT 2.1.1 to mmis_mes_certification@cms.hhs.gov.

  • Medicaid Enterprise Certification Toolkit 2.1.1
    • 00 MECT 2.1.1 Welcome MECT Release Notes
    • 01 MECT 2.1.1 Medicaid Enterprise Certification Life Cycle
    • 02 MECT 2.1.1 Appendix A_MECL and At a Glance Sheets
    • 03 MECT 2.1.1 Appendix B_Required Artifacts List
    • 04 MECT 2.1.1 Appendix C_Std IV&V Language
    • 05 MECT 2.1.1 Appendix D_Certification Progress Report Template
    • 06 MECT 2.1.1 Appendix E_MMIS Concept of Operations Template
    • 07 MECT 2.1.1 Appendix F_ MITA eSelf Assessment Scorecard
    • 08 MECT 2.1.1 Appendix G_2007 Criteria to MECT 2.1.1 Checklist Map
    • 09 MECT 2.1.1 Appendix H_MMIS Certification Request Letter Template
  • MECT MITA Business Area Module Checklist MECT 2.1.1 Set
  • MECT MMIS Module Checklist 2.1.1 Set

For questions and more information, please reference the Frequently Asked Questions page.
The Toolkit was last updated November 30, 2016.