NC HealthConnex Participant Base Continues to Grow

The NC Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA) continues to enrol health care providers, with 1290 facilities working with NC HealthConnex.

The NC Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA) continues to grow its list of participating health care providers. To date we are pleased to report that 1290 facilities are live in production with NC HealthConnex.

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 value-added services, how to get involved, state mandates and steps to connect.

What Are the Deadlines?

State law (NCSL 2015-241 as amended by NCSL 2017-57) requires that all health care providers who receive any state funds for the provision of health care services (e.g. Medicaid, HealthChoice, State Health Plan etc.) connect and submit patient demographic and clinical data to NC HealthConnex by certain dates in 2018 and 2019 in order to continue to receive payment for services

• Hospitals as defined by G.S. 131E-176(3), physicians licensed to practice under Article 1 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes, physician assistants as defined in 21 NCAC 32S .0201 and nurse practitioners as defined in 21 NCAC 36 .0801 who provide Medicaid services and who have an electronic health record system shall connect by June 1, 2018.

• All other providers of Medicaid and state-funded services shall connect by June 1, 2019.

• Prepaid Health Plans (PHPs), as defined in S.L. 2015-245, will be required to connect to the HIE per their contracts with the NC Division of Health Benefits (DHB). Clarifies that PHPs are required to submit encounter and claims data by the commencement of the contract with NC DHB.

• LME/MCOs are required to submit claims and encounter data by June 1, 2020.

Please note, as the law is currently written, any health care facility that employs a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner is expected to connect by the June 1, 2018, deadline if the other criteria apply – Medicaid provider and have electronic health record.

Extension Process Available

Per NCGS § 90-414.4 (a2) the NC HIEA, in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), has established a process to grant limited extensions of the time for providers and entities to connect to NC HealthConnex and begin submitting data as required by law.

The NC HIEA and DHHS understand that many health care providers will not be able to connect to NC HealthConnex by the mandated deadlines. The General Assembly has permitted the NC HIEA and DHHS to receive and grant extensions to health care providers if they can meet certain criteria.

The purpose of the extension request process is to allow an extension of time to complete the connection process for providers who have demonstrated a “good faith effort,” to comply with the State’s requirements. In many instances, there is a delay due to factors outside of a health care provider’s control. Note: This process is not a waiver or exemption from the law, and does not place any provider currently in onboarding with NC HealthConnex “on hold.” It simply allows more time for the technical onboarding to occur to be in compliance with the HIE Act.

Extension Request Process:

• Prospective NC HealthConnex participants must complete the extension process “presentation,” which will consist of a form

• The NC Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA) will make a preliminary decision on approval based on: 1) The provider’s deadline, 2) If they have signed a Participation Agreement (PA) to enable the connection

to NC HealthConnex, 3) If they have included a statement on how they plan to connect to NC HealthConnex

Other Criteria:

• Extensions may only be requested within six months of the relevant deadline, i.e. December 1, 2018, for June 1, 2019 deadline

• Extensions will last until the next connection deadline date provided by law (June 1, 2019 for providers included in the June 1, 2018 deadline).

• Further extensions may be requested at later dates if the participant will not be connected within the original extension period

• All connections must be made by June 1, 2020. Therefore, no extension periods may be granted that would result in connection dates past June 1, 2020.

To learn more or to complete the extension request form, please visit the HIEA website.

Office of Rural Health Community Health Grant Request for Applications

The Community Health Grant Request for Application has been released by the North Carolina Office of Rural Health (NCORH). These grants are supported through the North Carolina General Assembly.

The purpose of grants awarded under this program is to assure access to primary care and preventive care for vulnerable, underserved and medically indigent patients in the state. Primary care safety-net organizations are eligible to apply for this funding to pay for patient care through a primary care access plan (Track A) or through a reimbursement model for eligible expenses (Track B). Applicants must select one track. Collaboration among safety-net and social support organizations is highly encouraged.

Track A: Uninsured and underinsured residents are afforded access through the Primary Care Access Program. This program helps residents of North Carolina, at or below 200% of Federal Poverty Levels who do not have primary health care coverage, access health care services. Visits are reimbursable for medically necessary, on-site, face-to-face provider encounters.

Track B: The reimbursement model for eligible expenses may include payment for clinical staff, medical/office supplies and equipment, and capital.

Deadline for Submission - March 16, 2018

Grant applications must be received electronically by the Office of Rural Health by March 16, 2018. Only electronic copies will be accepted beginning February 1, 2018.

For more information, visit the website.

New Initiatives

NC HIEA to Kick Off Use Case Review Committee in 2018

The purpose of the Use Case Review Committee 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

NC HIEA is pleased to announce that effective June 1, 2018, the NC Diabetes Specialized Public Health Registry, developed in partnership with the Division of Public Health, will be available for population health purposes. Full participants of NC HealthConnex are eligible to participate in the registry by signing the NC HealthConnex Diabetes Registry Form. Data submitted to NC HealthConnex will be included in the Diabetes Registry, as appropriate. No additional data submission from participants is required. NC HealthConnex Diabetes Registry supports attestation for Meaningful Use Stage 3 and Modified Stage 2 for eligible hospitals, eligible critical access hospitals, and eligible professionals as well as Medicare Quality Payment Program Advancing Care Information for eligible clinicians. More info. Registration Form.

Work Group Dates

HIE Task Force - March 15, 2018, 2:00-3:30 pm; Hosted by NCHICA; Register to attend.

Dental Working Group Meeting - April 24, 2018, 1:30-3:30 pm; Location TBD.

BH/IDD Working Group Meeting - May 2, 2018, 1:00 - 3:00pm; Location WebEx & Phillips Building Training Room; 109 E. North Street, Raleigh, NC 27610

For NC HealthConnex Participants

TeleTown Hall – March 25, 2018, 12:00/noon – 1:00 p.m. - The HIEA Provider Relations and Help Desk teams provide quarterly training to NC HealthConnex participants to increase utilization of the HIE environment and value-added services. The March topic is Data Quality. An invitation will be sent to all Participant Account Administrators.

Provider Directory Schedule - Thank you for your participation in the most recent update to the growing DSM provider directory! The listing of secure email addresses has grown to over 19,000. These addresses are available for participants use in the NC HealthConnex clinical portal as well as via a .csv file.

Audit Schedule - The next quarterly NC HealthConnex user account audit is planned to go out in early March. Please be on the lookout for this important information.

Patient Education - An important component to connecting to NC HealthConnex is educating patients about how their medical records will be shared to improve patient care. To help providers, the NC HIEA developed patient education materials that are available to Participants for their use in patient communications. These materials are provided in the Welcome Packet that is distributed at the time the legal agreement (PA) is executed giving participating health care providers an average of 90 days to complete patient education prior to going live with NC HealthConnex.

  • NC HIEA webpage for patients
  • Patient Infographic – News About Your Medical Records that You Can Feel Good About
  • Patient Education tri-fold brochure – to order brochures for your practice, simply complete the form and return to hiea@nc.gov.
  • Patient Education 8.5x11 pdf
  • Opt-Out forms - English and Spanish – NOTE: Opt Out forms that pre-date the existence of the NC HIEA are no longer valid. Please use the linked forms provided or direct patients to the nchealthconnex.gov website page.

If you have questions, regarding patient education materials please contact HIEA provider relations at hiea@nc.gov or call (919) 754-6912.

FAQs:

Q. How secure is NC HealthConnex?

A. The NC HIEA takes patient health data privacy and security very seriously. The NC HIEA is what is considered a Health Information Organization (HIO) under HIPAA. In accordance with HIPAA regulations and state and federal law, the NC HIEA has entered into and will enter into Business Associate Agreements or HIPAA compliant agreements with all organizations (e.g. covered entities) that will receive personal health information (PHI) from NC HealthConnex. The State also has the authority to audit the activity of organizations that receive PHI (Protected Health Information) from the NC HealthConnex network. The NC HIEA follows the highest information security standards available. Information is always encrypted at rest and in transit. Additionally, the environment is SOC 2 compliant.

Q. What are the policies in place in the event of a breach?

A. The NC HIEA recognizes the vital role that information technology has in the health care industry, specifically health information exchange. NC HIEA and its participants have a shared responsibility to protect our cyber resources and citizens’ electronic health care records. The Authority has Privacy and Security policies that detail the procedures for security, HIPAA or eHealth Exchange breach in which any incident of unauthorized access to/acquisition of encrypted records or data containing personal information along with the confidential process occurs.

The NC HIEA takes its role as a steward of patient data very seriously and abides by the highest security standards as set by federal and state law. Additionally, the NC HIEA will perform regular audits to ensure compliance, follow data specifications standards already set by the eHealth Exchange and strive to minimize the amount of data shared to what is required to provide safe, quality and affordable care to patients.

In Other News:

Study Will Help Health Care Providers Prevent Suicide, Citizen Tribune, February 19, 2018

HIE Use of ADT Notifications Jumped 95% Last Year at New York HIE, EHR Intelligence, February 14, 2018

Healthcare organizations that struggle most with interoperability, Managed Healthcare Executive, February 16, 2018

Practice Fusion is going to start charging doctors for its service, reports CNBC's Christina Farr