Public Health Reporting for Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs

Promoting Interoperability and the Quality Payment Program

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act established a national initiative to expand the adoption and use of electronic health record (EHR) technology. EHR Incentive Programs, including Promoting Interoperability (formerly known as Meaningful Use) and the Quality Payment Program, promote the use of interoperable health information technology by Eligible Professionals (EPs) and Eligible Hospitals (EHs).

Declaration of Readiness

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is the state Public Health Authority (PHA) and accepts messages from EPs and EHs for the following public health measures:

DHSS is ready to accept messages for the following measures:

• Immunization Registry Reporting
• Syndromic Surveillance
• Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR)
• Cancer Registry Reporting (qualifies as a Public Health Registry)
• Electronic Case Reporting (eCR)
  • Onboard through the AIMS platform (see below for link)

Beginning the Data Submission Process

The Missouri EDX team has an all-in-one registration survey to initiate onboarding between providers and the state for immunizations, syndromic surveillance, ELR, and eCR reporting.  You can register your intent for Promoting Interoperability on the survey as well.  Please click the following link to register your organization: Missouri Electronic Data Exchange Onboarding Survey

How do I meet the active engagement requirement?

In order to receive incentive payments, EPs and EHs must achieve active engagement with DHSS for each public health registry for which they are eligible to report. You can meet the requirement by meeting one of the following criteria:

• The provider has completed the registration of intent and is awaiting invitation to begin testing and validation from DHSS. The provider has completed the registration of intent and is engaged in the testing and validation process, but has not yet reached production. Please note that the provider will only be allowed to remain in this pre-production stage for 1 year.
• The provider has completed the registration of intent and has reached production within their reporting period or within a prior reporting period.

Exclusions

If an EP or EH does not qualify to report for a measure, they are eligible for an exclusion for that measure. Exclusion documents are available for the following measures:

• Immunizations: For EPs or EHs that do not administer immunizations
• Syndromic Surveillance: For EHs that do not have an emergency room or EPs that do not practice at an urgent care clinic
• Electronic Laboratory Reports: For EHs and Eps that do not perform reportable laboratory tests
• Electronic Case Reports: EHs and Eps that do not treat of diagnosis any reportable diseases

EPs or EHs may be eligible for multiple exclusions based on the nature of their practice. To obtain exclusion documents, contact the Public Health Authority at MOPHIE@health.mo.gov.

What role does DHSS play?

To accomplish the goals of the EHR Incentive Programs, DHSS works with each provider to confirm their submission of electronic data and that their data submissions meet the state or national standards. Any changes to the provider’s electronic messages require DHSS to review to assure the changes have not impacted the quality of the data.

Questions

For questions related to the public health measures, contact the Public Health Authority at MOPHIE@health.mo.gov.