NC*Notify: New Features and Capabilities
NC HealthConnex is pleased to announce that new notification features and updates for NC*Notify are now available! Current subscribers across the state will now have access to COVID-19 lab result alerts, allowing them to react to positive cases in a more timely manner.
NC*Notify is a subscription-based service that notifies providers as their patients receive services across the care continuum. Based on admission, discharge, and transfer data received from more than 100 participating hospitals, plus encounter data from more than 6,000 ambulatory care settings, the NC*Notify real-time event notifications provide care teams with valuable information that spans geographic and care settings, and support state and federal efforts to focus on patient centered care. In addition to the COVID-19 notifications, some of the new alerts that are now available include:
High Utilizer Alert
This notification will help providers identify frequent visitors to the Emergency Department (ED) (two or more visits in 90 days or less) or patients that are at a high risk for readmission (four or more admissions in 12 months).
Dental Alerts
Providers will be alerted when patients utilize the emergency department for dental care.
Care Team Change Alert
Providers will be informed when a new organization has subscribed to their patient.
Diabetes Diagnosis Alert
Providers will be alerted upon a new diabetes and/or pre-diabetes diagnosis for patients they are monitoring.
Chronic Care Management Alert
Providers will receive an alert when a patient meets the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Chronic Care Management (CCM) services criteria.
The COVID-19 alert feature will be made available automatically to our NC*Notify dashboard subscribers. Other subscribers who would like access to the features mentioned above should visit the NC HIEA website to submit a request for services. The NC*Notify team will work closely with each participant to implement the upgrades outlined above.
For more information or questions about NC*Notify, contact the NC HealthConnex Team at hiea@nc.gov. To learn how to enroll in NC*Notify, click here.
NC HIEA and AHEC Virtual Training Opportunities
The NC HIEA and North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (NC AHEC) are offering a library of virtual training modules for health care providers on various NC HealthConnex services.
To get started, providers can register for a series of seven video trainings, each providing an orientation to the features and services available. The newest module, Module 7: NC*Notify, offers an overview of how NC*Notify works, how the practice will learn what is required to enroll and receive alerts, and hear use cases of how other practices are implementing NC*Notify into their daily workflow.
Registration for the following modules is required to receive a link to the training.
- Module 1: NC HealthConnex Overview
- Module 2: Unpacking the Welcome Packet
- Module 3: PAA (Participant Account Administrator) Role and Responsibilities
- Module 4: Clinical Portal Overview
- Module 5: Direct Secure Messaging Within the NC HealthConnex Clinical Portal
- Module 6: Patient Education
- Module 7: NC*Notify
These virtual offerings provide health care professionals with an introduction to NC HealthConnex or help brush up on NC HealthConnex knowledge. In the midst of a pandemic, these modules offer a stress-free method of receiving training and staying up-to-date on all applications within NC HealthConnex.
For more detailed instructions on how to use the training software, visit our Training and Resources webpage.
DHHS Hardship Extension Process
Session Law 2019-23 modified the Statewide HIE Act and gave NC DHHS the authority to grant a temporary Hardship Extension to classes of providers for whom acquiring and implementing an EHR system and connecting to the HIE Network would constitute an undue hardship.
- A Hardship Extension extends the participant’s deadline to December 31, 2022.
- All providers that receive a hardship extension must be live and sending data by January 1, 2023.
For more information about the DHHS Hardship Extension process, click here.
Please note: The NC HIEA does not grant hardship extensions. All questions and/or requests about the hardship extension should be sent to the DHB Ombudsman at Medicaid.ProviderOmbudsman@dhhs.nc.gov.
Upcoming Events
- NC HIEA Advisory Board Meeting
Wednesday, March 3, 2021, at 2:30 p.m. To attend this meeting, email trista.nance@nc.gov. - March How to Connect Call
Monday, March 29, 2021, at 12 p.m. To register for this meeting, click here. - NC HIEA Advisory Board Meeting
Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at 2:30 p.m. To attend this meeting, email trista.nance@nc.gov.
In the News
10 Key EHR Interoperability Trends, Outlined by KLAS and CHIME – Interoperability continues to improve in healthcare, with 67 percent of providers in 2020 reporting they often or nearly always have access to needed records, up from 28 percent in 2017, according to a recent KLAS Research and College of Healthcare Information Management Executives report. www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/
Health Information Exchanges Help Providers Get Beyond Fear and Share Data – The Covid-19 pandemic has proven the dire need for the health-care industry to share health-care data in a secure, private way. Health information exchanges help providers move past their data sharing fears and toward interoperability, says Deven McGraw, co-founder of Citizen and a former HHS health information privacy official. www.news.bloomberglaw.com