The Secretary, in coordination with the National Governor's Association, must develop protocols for the external quality reviews required under this subpart. Each protocol issued by the Secretary must specify—

(a) The data to be gathered;

(b) The sources of the data;

(c) The activities and steps to be followed in collecting the data to promote its accuracy, validity, and reliability;

(d) The proposed method or methods for validly analyzing and interpreting the data once obtained; and

(e) Instructions, guidelines, worksheets, and other documents or tools necessary for implementing the protocol.