ONC Issues Guidance on Stage 2 Transition of Care Requirements

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has issued guidance on how health information exchange  organizations and health IT service providers can help health care providers  meet the transition of care measures under Stage 2 of the meaningful use  program, Clinical Innovation & Technology reports  (Pedulli, Clinical Innovation & Technology, 5/13).

Background

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who  demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can  qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

The Stage 2 transition of care measures require eligible health care  providers and hospitals to use certified EHR systems or information exchanges  to:

• Provide an electronic summary of care record for more than 10% of  transitions of care and referrals; and
• Conduct at least one successful electronic data exchange with a different  EHR vendor or with a federally designated test EHR.

Guidance Details

ONC’s guidance states that health information service providers and health  information exchange organizations can support providers in meeting the  transition of care measures in various way, such as by:

• Seeking certification of a stand-alone EHR module; and
• Partnering with one or more EHR vendors (Goedert, Health Data Management, 5/10).

The guidance also includes information on:

• How to use push services to support transition of care measures with a  non-certified health information organization;
• How to use search fields to support transition of care measures with such  organizations (Clinical Innovation & Technology, 5/13); and
• Best practice recommendations that providers can use to prepare for future  CMS audits (Health Data Management, 5/10).

Source: iHealthBeat

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