Happy New Year 2018 from the NC HIEA/NC HealthConnex Team!

Happy New Year from the NC Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA)! Our team would like to thank all NC HealthConnex Participants and our numerous stakeholders for your continued support of North Carolina’s state-designated HIE.

Milestones for 2017:

• Facilities Connected: 1,200 +
• Facilities in Onboarding: 400+
• Unique Patient Records: 4.25 million
• To date, all participants are sending all patient data which is helping to build an infrastructure to support population health as well as public health registry initiatives. Additionally, we’ve seen a 75% increase in the number of CCDs exchanged per month during 2017.

We anticipate 2018 to be a busy year as we work with health care providers to meet the state’s required deadlines. We also commit to working diligently with our partner agencies and trade associations to communicate progress and build value-added services for our participating health care providers.

For a complete list of NC HealthConnex participants, click here.

Interested providers are invited to join a monthly “How to Connect Call” to learn more about NC HealthConnex, how to get involved, state mandates and steps to connect.

HIEA Staff Update

The NC HIEA is pleased to report that Christie Burris has accepted the position of executive director. She has served as acting director since March 2017.

Legislative Requirements per 2017 Appropriations Act:

Feasibility Study - This study is underway and will be provided to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committees for Health and Human Services and Information Technology by April 1, 2018. The statute asks the agencies to examine:

1. The availability of connection, exchange, and data submission standards established by the Office of the National Coordinator for Information Technology within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

2. The adoption of national standards for the connection, exchange, and data submission standards by provider type.

3. Cost estimates by provider type to connect and submit data to the HIE and any availability of federal or State funds to meet connection or submission requirements.

4. Data captured in the treatment of patients, segmented by provider type.

5. Activity of other states and payor plans with respect to the establishment of an HIE Network.

6. Alternatives to the connection and submission of demographic, clinical, encounter, and claims data through the HIE Network.

Extension Process - The NC Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA), in collaboration with the NC Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), has developed a process that allows health care providers to request extensions for their connection to NC HealthConnex. If your organization would like to request a connection extension, you must meet all of the following criteria:

1) Have signed an NC HIEA Participation Agreement; and

2) Can demonstrate how your organization plans to connect to NC HealthConnex within one (1) calendar year;

The NC HIEA will officially begin accepting extension requests January 22, 2018. If your organization can comply with these criteria and you need to request an extension, please complete the form found on the nchealthconnex.gov website.  Note: This process is not a request for a waiver/exemption from the state’s requirements, but an extension of time to meet the state’s requirements.

New Initiatives:

Working with the VA HIE

As reported in the last HIEA Update, NC HealthConnex and the U.S. Department of Veterans Administration (VA) HIE, will build a connection via the eHealth Exchange network. Testing is set to begin this month, and we hope the connection to be live in the first quarter of 2018.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently rolled out a new provider directory. The website allows users to look up VA doctors and find such basic information as their specialties and where they completed their training.

NC HIEA to Kick Off Participant User Group in 2018

The purpose of this user group is to bring together a diverse group of tactical and strategic health care stakeholders for the purposes of HIE ideation, as well as to review and prioritize external HIE use cases integration into the NC HealthConnex infrastructure. Interested participants should contact Vanessa Green at (919) 754-6912.

Diabetes Specialized Public Health Registry

The NC HIEA is pleased to announce that effective June 1, 2018 the NC Diabetes Specialized Public Health Registry will be available to accept electronic submissions from eligible hospitals, eligible critical access hospitals and eligible professionals, according to the standards required to meet the definitions of Meaningful Use Stage 3 and Modified Stage 2. Active engagement with the diabetes specialized registry is available to full participants of NC HealthConnex. More information about becoming a full participant of NC HealthConnex and about the diabetes specialized registry is available at the website or via email.

Work Group Dates

HIE Task Force - January 18, 2018, at 2-3:30 pm, hosted by NCHICA

Behavioral Health – January 26, 2018, 12:00/noon – 1:00 pm, webinar hosted by NC HIEA

For NC HealthConnex Participants:

Provider Directory Schedule – The 1st quarter DSM provider directory review will be distributed to NC HealthConnex participant account administrators during the week of January 15-19. Please review, update and return your updated information within ten business days so that we can update the clinical portal and the master excel document accordingly. Questions? Interested in obtaining a secure messaging account? Contact Kellie McDonald at (919) 754-6912.

Audit Schedule – The next quarterly NC HealthConnex user account audit is scheduled for early February. Please be on the lookout for this important information.

Need Patient Education training materials? Call (919) 754-6912.

FAQs:

Q. Are there restrictions on submitting substance abuse data to NC HealthConnex?

A. Alcohol or substance abuse programs that receive any type of federal assistance as outlined in 42 C.F.R. 2.12 cannot generally disclose data to an HIE if the data would: 1. identify a patient as an alcohol or substance abuser, and 2. if that data was obtained by an alcohol or substance abuse program for treating, diagnosing or making a referral for the patient’s alcohol or substance abuse problem. Providers can disclose that information in the event of an emergency if the requesting physician needs the information to treat the emergency condition pursuant to 42 C.F.R. 2.51 or if the patient has authorized the specific disclosure in writing in compliance with 42 C.F.R. 2.31. Please review 42 C.F.R. Part 2 before disclosing any alcohol or substance abuse information through NC HealthConnex.

Q. Can I share data related to a patient’s behavioral health through NC HealthConnex?

A. Yes. Most behavioral health information is permitted to be shared through NC HealthConnex. However, the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rule requires that providers receive written authorization from a patient before psychotherapy notes can be disclosed to another party with some exceptions (45 C.F.R. 164.508). The written authorization form must comply with 45 C.F.R. 164.508(c) and must accompany any disclosure of psychotherapy notes through NC HealthConnex. The Rule defines “psychotherapy notes” as follows:

Psychotherapy notes means notes recorded (in any medium) by a health care provider who is a mental health professional documenting or analyzing the contents of conversation during a private counseling session or a group, joint or family counseling session and that are separated from the rest of the individual’s medical record. Psychotherapy notes exclude medication prescription and monitoring, counseling session start and stop times, the modalities and frequencies of treatment furnished, results of clinical tests and any summary of the following items: Diagnosis, functional status, the treatment plan, symptoms, prognosis and progress to date.

In Other News:

Research shows email-based care coordination improves outcomes, provider satisfaction
Healthcare Dive, December 12, 2017

Providers Caring for an Aging Population Need Widespread HIE Use
EHR Intelligence, December 7, 2017

Value-Based Contracts Rely on Patient Attribution, Data Sharing
RevCycle Intelligence, November 29, 2017

Questions? Call the NC HIEA business office at 919-754-6912 or send an email to hiea@nc.gov.