The NC HIEA team will present two sessions at the upcoming annual conference of the North Carolina Chapter of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Titled: From the Mountains to the Sea: Healthcare Innovation Across the Carolinas, this two-day event in Charlotte offers an excellent and economical opportunity to learn from and network with health care IT professionals to inspire innovation and improve health care delivery and technologies throughout the State.
Thursday, May 3, 10:30 am - 11:15 am, Modernizing HIE: The Connection Process and Added Benefits of NC HealthConnex
This presentation will answer many questions providers may have including how to find out where each Participant is in the connection process, when their deadline to connect is, and how to access a patient’s data from another provider with whom they share a treatment relationship. It will also highlight the value-added features the NC HIEA offers to Full Participants of NC HealthConnex, including connectivity to public health registries, direct secure messaging and future analytic reporting.
Thursday, May 3, 1:30 pm - 2:15 pm, Beyond Query and Exchange – Innovations in Health Information Exchange Services
Many Health Information Exchanges (HIE) are delivering innovative services that leverage the tremendous size, richness and diversity of data available. These use cases support patient care through meaningful and timely clinical notifications, for example. In other cases, comprehensive and normalized longitudinal patient records are analyzed and aggregated to evaluate quality of care, improve public health and support quality payment program initiatives. North Carolina’s State-designated Health Information Exchange, NC HealthConnex, will share with attendees the work of two pilot analytic programs – clinical notifications and a diabetes disease registry, progress to date, lessons learned, and plans moving forward. We will also cover our emerging Data Quality Program and discuss the value this effort offers NC HealthConnex participating providers.
To learn more about the conference, visit the NC HIMMS website.
Diabetes Registry Open for Registration to Support MU Attestation
The 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. The 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. Questions? Contact hiea@nc.gov.
NC HIEA to Kick Off Use Case Review Committee in April
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.
Extension Process Available Now for Providers Who Fall Under the June 2018 Deadline
Hospitals, physicians and mid-level physicians who have electronic health record technology and who receive funds from Medicaid for the provision of health care services are able to apply for an extension.
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. For more information, visit Extension Process.
Quick Links:
NC HIEA Calendar of Events:
Advisory Board Meeting - Wednesday, April 18, from 2:00-5:00 p.m. at SAS Institute| EBC Room 8, Building C, 820 SAS Campus Dr, Cary, NC 27513. Meetings are open to the public.
Dental Working Group Meeting, Tuesday, April 24, 2018, 1:30-3:30 pm, Location TBD
BH/IDD Working Group Meeting, Wednesday, May 2, 2018, 1:00-3:00 pm, Location Webex & Phillips Building Training Room, 109 E. North Street, Raleigh, NC 27610
NC HIMSS Annual Meeting, Thursday, May 3, (see article above)
HIE Task Force, Thursday, May 17, 2018, 2:00-3:30 pm, hosted by NCHICA.
For NC HealthConnex Participants
The NC HIEA is asking health care providers who signed the initial 2016 Participation Agreement to complete and sign the newly updated agreement for 2018 which more closely aligns with national trends and standards for health information exchange and collects more accurate information to ensure compliance with the State’s requirements under the HIE Act. Affected Participants received an email earlier this week with instructions and information regarding the new Agreement requirements. [Note: The Participation Agreement was also updated in 2017 to more closely align with the National Data Use and Reciprocal Support Agreement (DURSA); signing the new agreement was optional for 2016 Participants at that time.]
FAQs:
Q. How do NC HealthConnex Participants gain access to the clinical portal to view patient records?
A. The NC HIEA takes its role as steward of patient data very seriously and gives credentials to the participant’s assigned Participant Account Administrator. The Participant Account Administrator grants the health care provider access based on his/her specific role within the health care organization. NC HealthConnex is configured with various clinical views that end users can access. Not all views need to be accessed by all users, and access can be based on sensitivity of information or relevance to the user. User groups and roles are used to control this access. For more information see the NC HIEA’s user access policies
Q. What is the difference between a uni-directional and bi-directional connection/integration?
A. Organizations who have opted to move forward with a “Full Participation” agreement may access NC HealthConnex data via a uni-directional or bi-directional data connection. Organizations with a uni- directional connection/integration to NC HealthConnex may access their patient’s longitudinal patient record via the NC HealthConnex clinical portal. Organizations connected bi-directionally may access NC HealthConnex data via their organizational electronic health record. *NOTE: bi-directional data connections to NC HealthConnex are dependent upon your electronic health record’s technical capability. Please work with your electronic health record vendor to determine if this is an option for your organization.
Q. What if my vendor does not have the technical capability to connect to NC HealthConnex?
A. The NC HIEA offers a variety of connection options to NC HealthConnex. However, there are some instances in which your electronic health record vendor does not have the technical capability to connect to NC HealthConnex. In those instances, you will receive correspondence from the NC HIEA notifying you that your electronic health record vendor is not technically capable of connecting to NC HealthConnex. If your organization has received this correspondence and your identified statutory deadline is within the next few months (June 2018), the NC HIEA recommends that your organization complete the NC HealthConnex extension form. The extension process was created for organizations who have made a “good faith” effort to meet their NC HealthConnex statutory deadline, but have encountered limitations beyond their control (i.e. technology, etc.) prohibiting them from meeting their identified deadline. If you are interested in learning more about this process, click here.
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