CMS updates MU FAQs

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has added five new frequently asked questions related to health information exchange (HIE) and public health reporting requirements under the EHR Meaningful Use program, and updated an existing FAQ.

One question is: Can a state capture electronic clinical quality measures, or eCQMs, for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program through an HIE?

The answer is yes. "States should consider the health data landscape of their state when designing a system to collect eCQMs for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. Utilizing an HIE can allow the state to collect more sophisticated patient-level data, to encourage provider adoption, and to facilitate alignment between various programs, such as those authorized under the HITECH Act, accountable care organizations and medical homes."

Another question is: Can a public health agency use an HIE to interface with providers who are submitting public health data to meet the public health objectives of meaningful use (such as submitting information to an immunization registry, reporting lab results to a public health agency or reporting syndromic surveillance information)?

The answer provided is: "There are a variety of methods for the exchange of public health information, and CMS does not limit or define the receiving capabilities of public health entities. Among other requirements as specified in the regulations, a provider must submit data for the public health objectives of Meaningful Use as follows:

• The information required by a public health meaningful use objective must originate from the provider’s Certified Electronic Health Records Technology (CEHRT); and

• The information sent from the provider’s Certified EHR Technology must be formatted according to the standards and implementation specifications associated with the public health Meaningful Use objective.

If a provider intends to use an intermediary as an extension of their CEHRT to satisfy a meaningful use requirement and not simply to transport the data, the intermediary would need to be certified as an EHR Module for that purpose.  When obtaining a CMS certification number from the Certified HIT Products List (CHPL), a provider would need to include the intermediary’s certification number during their attestation."

Access the complete FAQs here.