The expansion and use of electronic health records (EHRs) is a national goal established under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. The EHR Incentive Programs, referred to as Promoting Interoperability (prev. meaningful use), and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act Quality Payment Program promote the adoption and use of interoperable health information technology by eligible hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, eligible professionals, and eligible clinicians.
Reporting measures for exchanging data with public health agencies has been established at the national level for Promoting Interoperability and the Quality Payment Program.
Public Health and Clinical Data Registry Reporting Measures
| Healthcare Provider Type | Eligible Professional*** | Eligible Hospital and Critical Access Hospitals*** |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic Lab Reporting | N/A | Yes |
| Immunization Information Reporting | Yes | Yes |
| Syndromic Surveillance Reporting | Yes* | Yes |
| Electronic Case Reporting**** | Yes | Yes |
| Cancer Reporting | Yes | N/A |
| Prescription Monitoring | Yes | Yes |
| Clinical Data Registry** (Health Care Authority) |
Yes | Yes |
* Urgent care providers will report under Syndromic Surveillance. Non-urgent care providers may claim Syndromic Surveillance Reporting as a public health registry option. The on-boarding processes are identical.
** Under new changes in 2019, the Public Health Reporting Measures are combined with the Clinical Data Registry. All programs listed in the table above are offered by the Department of Health except for the Clinical Data Registry which is under the Health Care Authority.
*** Please refer to the Eligibility and Registration page for information regarding Washington State Public Health Promoting Interoperability eligibility.
**** Electronic Case Reporting (eCR): The Department of Health is accepting registrations of intent for eCR beginning January 1, 2018. eCR allows eligible providers and hospitals to report clinical and patient data for reportable diseases through an automated and secure process to the statewide disease surveillance system. For further information regarding the standards relevant to the submission of an electronic initial case report, please refer to the HL7 CDA® R2 Implementation Guide: Public Health Case Report, Release 2 – US Realm – the Electronic Initial Case Report (eICR).
Exclusions
Washington State Department of Health does not grant exclusions. It is up to the healthcare provider to determine if they can claim an applicable exclusion. Please refer to Eligibility Criteria for additional information.
Participation
- Register your intent to attest for any or all public health measures by completing the Public Health Data Exchange Registration Form.
- Review the program measure specific requirements and guidance on the measure specific links above.
- You will be contacted by Washington State Department of Health program staff with instructions on how to proceed with each measure. Details for the onboarding process for each measure can be found on the measure specific links above.
Criteria for Active Engagement
Step 1 Registration
Registration of intent to submit data to public health is required within 60 days after the start of the EHR reporting period.
The healthcare provider or hospital must complete the Meaningful Use registration if they meet all of the following:
- Intend to attest to a new public health measure for Merit-based Incentive Payment System
- Meet criteria to send data to the Washington State Department of Health system (see Eligibility and Registration webpage)
- Have software certified for the measure
If the healthcare provider has previously registered for a measure, they do not need to re-register. If the healthcare provider plans to attest to a new public health measure, they will need to register for the measure.
Step 2 Testing and Validation
After registration, the healthcare provider may be placed in a hold queue. When Washington State Department of Health is ready to begin testing, the provider will receive an invitation to begin. Once in this phase, data providers will be expected to respond to requests from public health within 30 days. The testing and validation process ensures successful transmission and high data quality.
Step 3 Production
Washington State Department of Health will notify the healthcare provider when their data is fully validated and flowing to the Production system. To maintain production status, data providers will be expected to respond to requests from public health within 30 days.
Learn More About FHIR Data Exchange Standards for Public Health
Many of the public health registries promoting interoperability are beginning to use HL7 - Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards. Here are some resources:
- FHIR provides many modern advances over older versions of HL7 and is a foundational piece of US Core for Data Interoperability (USCDI)
- National Public Health Data Modernization.
- To help prepare the agency for this work, DOH has developed a FHIR Roadmap (PDF).
We look forward to using FHIR to improve interoperability with our healthcare partners and the public.
Resources
Internal Links
External Links
- Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs
- CDC Promoting Interoperability
- CMS Promoting Interoperability
- WA State Health Information Exchange (OneHealthPort)