Friday, June 1, 2018, marked the first mandated deadline for the HIE Act (NCSL 2015-241 as amended by NCSL 2017-57) whereby hospitals, physcians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners with an electronic health record (EHR) system and who participate in Medicaid must have initiated a connection to NC HealthConnex, North Carolina’s designated statewide health information exchange network.
Over the past two years, the NC HIEA and numerous stakeholder partners and agencies have been working with the health care provider community to communicate and educate about the State’s requirements and the value of participating in health information exchange for whole person care.
The HIEA is pleased to report that all hospitals and more than 4,000 ambulatory physician practices who fall under the first deadline have moved forward in the connection process. We sincerely appreciate the numerous providers across the state who have initiated a connection and are making data available through the system to improve care to the citizens of North Carolina.
Extension Process Change
Please note, 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 grant extensions to health care providers if they can meet certain criteria. Any organization that is not live and is effected by the June 1, 2018, deadline will now automatically receive an extension once they have an executed Participation Agreement on file. There is no need to submit an extension form.
Due to the recent volume of agreements submitted, please allow 2-4 weeks to receive your fully executed agreement. As directed by DMA, NC Medicaid payments will not be impacted at this time.
Note: The extension is not a waiver and does not place the provider organization on hold. It is simply an extension of time (until June 1, 2019) to complete the technical onboarding process to submit patient clinical and demographic data for, at a minimum, all state-paid services.
Providers Who Have Not Initiated Connection to NC HealthConnex by June 1, 2018
As reported by Deputy Secretary for the Division of Medical Assistance Dave Richard in the June Medicaid Bulletin, “Medicaid will work collaboratively with providers to comply with the inital deadline, and will initiate corrective action, including requiring corrective action plans, to ensure all providers come into compliance.”
At this time, all providers will continue to be enrolled as Medicaid providers and, as they file claims, will receive reimbursements for services and treatment of Medicaid beneficiaries.
Questions regarding the connection process? Contact HIEA@info.gov or call (919) 754-6912
Questions for Division of Medical Assistance (DMA)? Contact 919-855-4250
Note: Due to the heavy volume of phone and email inquiries, please expect a delay in response time. We aim to return all calls and emails within five business days and appreciate the provider community’s patience during these first few weeks of June.
What Does Connected Mean?
To meet the state’s mandate, a health care provider is “connected” when its clinical and demographic information pertaining to services paid for by Medicaid and other State-funded health care funds are being sent to NC HealthConnex—either through a direct connection or via a hub (i.e., a larger system with which it participates, another regional HIE with which it participates or an EHR vendor).
Who’s Connected?
For a list of current NC HealthConnex participants as of May 31, click here.
Behavioral Health EHR Funding Program Update
As announced in the HIEA May Update, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Rural Health (ORH) and Division of Medical Assistance (DMA) partnered with the N.C. Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA) to launch a program to assist behavioral health, mental health, and intellectual development and disability practices with purchasing electronic health record (EHR) technology and establishing connectivity to the state-designated health information exchange, NC HealthConnex. Applications closed on May 31 with over 260 applicants. Behavioral health organizations that applied for this program in May 2018, will be notified by the Office of Rural Health Information Technology Team regarding their eligibility and acceptance into the program by early July 2018.
Technology Selection
Practices selected to participate will need to determine what software works best for their specific organization. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) developed adoption and implementation documentation that is helpful in the planning and procurement process. BH/IDD practices need to coordinate with other specialties to help their patients. Therefore, practice software must include support for HL7 compliance and enable providers to communicate with various specialties. This capability will allow organizations to connect to NC HealthConnex. For a list of vendors that NC HealthConnex is already engaged with click here. If you don’t see the vendor you're working with on that list, please ensure that they can meet the technical standards.
Funding
Reimbursements for the Behavioral Health EHR Funding Program will come through NC Tracks after the practice has either connected to NC HealthConnex or has been in the onboarding process for over 30 days. Payment will not exceed the total cost of behavioral health EHR implementation and will go directly to the practice.
NC HIEA Calendar of Events:
- Partners Behavioral Health Management Board Meeting - Wednesday, June 13
- Advisory Board Meeting - Wednesday, June 20, from 2:00-5:00 p.m. at SAS Institute, Building C, 820 SAS Campus Dr, Cary, NC 27513. Meetings are open to the public.
- How to Connect Call – Monday, June 25. Interested providers are invited to join a monthly "How to Connect" call to learn about who we are, the state mandate, steps to connect, as well as value-added feature
- CureMD User Group Meeting – Wednesday, June 27
In 2015, the North Carolina General Assembly established a state-managed Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA) to oversee and administer the NC Health Information Exchange Network (NCGS 90-414.7). Housed within the NC Department of Information Technology’s (DIT) Government Data Analytics Center (GDAC), the NC HIEA operates North Carolina’s statewide health information exchange--now called NC HealthConnex. NC HealthConnex is a secure, standardized electronic system in which providers can share important patient health information. The use of this system promotes the access, exchange, and analysis of health information to help improve care coordination, quality of care, and enable better health outcomes.