UHIN

Author: UHIN

ONC Announces Unified Specification for Address in Health Care – Project US@

by UHIN

The ONC Addresses Patient Addresses with New Specification

A new standard

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)  announced Tuesday that it will develop a unified specification for a key element in patient matching – patient address. The announcement came during ONC’s API Year in Review virtual event as a new initiative to standardize how patient addresses are represented in the healthcare ecosystem. The new initiative, called Project US@, will formally launch in early 2021 and brings together the ONC, Health Level 7 (HL7), the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP), and X12 (along with the other standards development organizations (SDOs) and members of the Health Standards Collaborative (HSC)). 

In a statement by the ONC, Deputy National Coordinator, Steve Posnack, said, “As mundane as address may seem it is often one of the key elements used for the purposes of patient matching and linking records.” He also stated, “The project’s goal is to issue a unified, cross-SDO, health care industry-wide specification for representing address within the year.”¹

Many in the healthcare industry have expressed the need for a unified standard around patient address, as the lack of specificity allowed implementers to decide on which format to use. “Without specific constraints to rely on, implementers use a variety of free and commercial third party tools, resources, and methods to help normalize address representations,” said Posnack. “But as we discussed in ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule it has its limits.”

What does this mean for SDOs and patient data stewards across the country?

As an SDO on the local and national level, UHIN is acutely aware of the need for standards to improve patient matching. UHIN’s new master patient index (MPI) has drastically improved patient matching accuracy for its clients, and the hope is that Project US@ will make patient matching even more accurate. 

“With the shift to value-based care it is more crucial that data from different standards be joined to form a holistic view of the patient/member,” said Cody Johansen, Director of HIE at UHIN. “By standardizing address information across multiple SDOs this will both increase the reliability of the data used for matching as well as improve the matching rate across different data types.”

UHIN’s MPI improving patient identity matching

In 2020 UHIN implemented a powerful new patient identity matching solution. The new MPI has resulted in 7.3 Million records cleaned and 965k duplicates resolved.² A new case study with NextGate is available here. 

A new Interoperability Platform to bridge standards

UHIN has a new interoperability platform in development called the Healthcare Platform. Our Healthcare Platform is being built for data-driven workflows, making healthcare analytics accessible and usable and acting as a bridge for all standards. To get updates on the Healthcare Platform visit https://uhin.org/healthcare-platform/.

Sources: 

¹ Posnack, Steve. “Say “Hey!” to Project US@ – a Unified Specification for Address in Health Care.” 1 Dec. 2020, https://www.healthit.gov/buzz-blog/health-it/say-hey-to-project-us-a-unified-specification-for-address-in-health-care

² “CASE STUDY: UHIN Leverages Leading Patient Identification Platform to Drive Quality and Coordination of Care, Support COVID-19 Response.” https://marketing.nextgate.com/acton/fs/blocks/showLandingPage/a/3826/p/p-004c/t/page/fm/0

Top 3 Takeaways from HIT 2020

by UHIN

With the 2020 HIT Conference in the rearview mirror, we wanted to talk a look back at the highlights.

Our Top 3 Takeaways from HIT 2020:

1

The top sessions of the conference by session feedback and attendance were our 3 featured sessions, by Dr. Don Rucker, Dr. Gurpreet Dhaliwal, and Dr. Ajit Singh. Those who registered can see the full session recordings through the WHOVA app. Sessions are also available on our UHIN Stage YouTube page. Some sessions are available to those who weren’t able to attend the event! 

2

We nerded out on FHIR with several in-depth presentations related to the possibilities of FHIR in connecting our healthcare data for interoperability. Check out these three FHIR sessions: 

  1. Integrated FHIR Delivery – https://youtu.be/U5hYy0HALPs
  2. The Evolving Quality Measures Ecosystem – https://youtu.be/61oEjpgDWaE
  3. FHIR Panel with Cambia Grove Innovator Fellowship – https://youtu.be/v6KtEF2vi8A

3

UHIN has a new interoperability platform in the works called the Healthcare Platform. More details coming in 2021, but you can be the first to get updates by subscribing. We’re looking for interested organizations to Build With Us, so visit our Healthcare Platform page for details: https://uhin.org/healthcare-platform/

A “Thank You” Meal for our community COVID-19 testing site teams

by UHIN

This holiday weekend we at UHIN would like to express our gratitude to all of you who are battling this pandemic. As a small token of appreciation, we are sending meals to those at various COVID-19 testing sites in Utah who are working through the holiday on Friday. Healthcare workers are sacrificing in heroic ways during this pandemic. As COVID-19 drags on, it’s important not to forget what our frontline workers are doing.

As new cases continue to rise in Utah, there is even more pressure put on these testing sites. Each worker there is a person who is sacrificing for our community. We hope they know that we are thinking of them and their loved ones, and hope some good BBQ will go a little way towards reminding them of that. 

Thank You and Stay Safe!

The UHIN Family

HHS Extends Compliance Dates for Information Blocking Requirements

by UHIN

HHS Extends Compliance Dates for Information Blocking Requirements

21st Century Cures Act Final Rule deadlines delayed due to pandemic

HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology announced this week that they would extend deadlines for their information-blocking rule as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put pressure on healthcare organizations around the country.

On Thursday, the agency issued a statement detailing the interim final rule which would delay compliance dates until 2021 for information-blocking provisions and health IT certification requirements.

“To be clear, ONC is not removing the requirements advancing patient access to their health information that are outlined in the Cures Act Final Rule,” said Don Rucker, MD, national coordinator for health IT. “Rather, we are providing additional time to allow everyone in the health care ecosystem to focus on COVID-19 response.”

With providers reprioritizing their IT efforts, this move will give healthcare organizations time to comply with the new rule as they simultaneously respond to the pandemic.

In the statement the agency said the move would “[extend] the Program compliance dates beyond those identified in the April 21, 2020, enforcement discretion announcement and [establish] new future applicability dates for information blocking provisions. The interim final rule also adopts updated standards and makes technical corrections and clarifications to the ONC Cures Act Final Rule.”

We have provided links below to the ONC interim final rule that was released earlier in the week, as well as a date grid highlighting important milestones in the rule.

New Applicability and Compliance Dates/Timeframes & Corresponding Provisions

April 5, 2021

  • Information blocking provisions (45 CFR Part 171) 
  • Information Blocking CoC/MoC requirements (§ 170.401)
  • Assurances CoC/MoC requirements (§ 170.402, except for § 170.402(b)(2) as it relates to § 170.315(b)(10)) 
  • API CoC/MoC requirement (§ 170.404(b)(4)) – compliance for current API criteria 
  • Communications CoC/MoC requirements (§ 170.403) (except for § 170.403(b)(1) – where we removed the notice requirement for 2020)

December 31, 2022

  • 2015 Edition health IT certification criteria updates (except for § 170.315(b)(10) – EHI export, which is extended until December 31, 2023)
  • New standardized API functionality (§ 170.315(g)(10))

One Calendar Year Extension

  • Submission of initial attestations (§ 170.406)
  • Submission of initial plans and results of real-world testing (§ 170.405(b)(1) and (2))

Announcement: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/10/29/hhs-extends-compliance-dates-information-blocking-health-it-certification-requirements-21st-century-cures-act-final-rule.html

Fact Sheet: https://www.healthit.gov/cures/sites/default/files/cures/2020-10/IFC_FactSheet_Certification.pdf

Fact Sheet: https://www.healthit.gov/cures/sites/default/files/cures/2020-10/IFC_FactSheet_Information_Blocking.pdf

FAQs: https://www.healthit.gov/curesrule/resources/information-blocking-faqs

2020 HIT Conference

by UHIN

November 10-11 | Virtual 2-Day Event

CONNECTING DATA, UNITING HEALTHCARE

Event Page

This year, HIT will focus on tech and data solutions that connect the healthcare community when they need it most. 

The mission of this year’s HIT conference is to unite technology leaders, doers, and innovators in solidifying interoperability, discovering new ways to connect, and creating meaningful change.

We are tailoring this year’s HIT Conference to industry professionals who are creating, using, or even simply looking for tech solutions for some of healthcare’s biggest roadbloacks. 

Who should attend?

The Annual HIT Conference is geared towards senior leadership and decision makers across the healthcare industry. Executive leadership, c-suite, directors, project leaders and more from any organization that creates, uses, or wants education on healthcare technology & interoperability solutions are welcome at HIT. Policy makers and governmental entities are also encouraged to attend.

Virtual forum. Momentous experience.

The safety of our speakers and attendees is paramount. Our 2020 event will be conducted entirely online, with sessions conducted over video call and a fully-featured event app to allow attendees and sponsors to network, participate in Q&As, and interact with discussion boards and giveaways.

Register Now!

Interested in speaking or sponsoring?
Contact communications@uhin.org for more information.

Speaker Prospectus
Sponsor Prospectus

UHIN Annual Forum 2020

by UHIN

The UHIN Annual Forum is a virtual, half-day event to discuss pressing issues regarding patient data access, interoperability, and the future of healthcare in Utah.

Convening, educating and inspiring our community

As the Utah-designated Health Information Exchange (HIE) and unbiased community convener, we strive to bring critical healthcare discussions to the fore whenever possible. For this year’s forum we invited expert leaders on healthcare data to provide updates on crucial topics. We will also hosted a panel on the future of Utah’s healthcare landscape.

Presentation and Q&A about the New ONC Interoperability Rules (Begins 00:2:26)
Steven Posnack, M.S., M.H.S. Deputy National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
Elise Sweeney Anthony, J.D., Executive Director, Office of Policy at ONC

Taking Interoperability to the Next Level (Begins 00:56:42)
Dave Cassel, Executive Director of Carequality

Implementing the CMS Interoperability Rules with DaVinci (Begins 1:43:00)
Viet Nguyen, MD, Clinical Informaticist at Stratametrics, LLC and Technical Director for HL7 Da Vinci Project

Panel Discussion – Utah’s Healthcare Landscape After the Pandemic (Begins 2:26:14)
Lt. Governor Spencer J. Cox, State of Utah
Michelle McOmber, CEO, Utah Medical Association
Greg Bell, President & CEO, Utah Hospital Association
Nate Checketts, UDOH Deputy Director, Medicaid Director

Any presentation slides UHIN has permission to share are linked below.

Taking Interoperability to the Next Level

COVID-19 Lab Result Alerts – FAQ

by UHIN

Q – What are COVID-19 Lab Alerts?

 A – COVID-19 Lab Alerts are real-time notifications from hospitals and labs from in and around the state of Utah that can be sent directly to healthcare providers, ACOs and care managers. These alerts allow care teams to coordinate interventions more effectively for their patients, especially those in greater need of physician oversight. Care teams will also be able to see all observations and lab results that are part of a SARS-CoV-2 test order. Additionally, SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM Antibody tests are available in the data feeds and will be sent in the lab reports.

These lab alerts are being made available through UHIN’s Clinical Health Information Exchange (CHIE) and is part of the CHIE Alerts platform.

Q – What are CHIE Alerts?

 A – The CHIE Alerts system sends you secure notifications when your patients are admitted to, or discharged from, a hospital or emergency department, helping you to offer prompt post-acute care. When your patients have been hospitalized, they need timely follow-up care to lessen their risk of readmission or complications. CHIE Alerts supports you in offering transitional care management services, which may lead to higher reimbursements from Medicare and some commercial payers.

Q – Is there a difference between CHIE Alerts and Lab Results Alerts?

A – Yes, although they both send you a secure notification on your patients, Lab Results Alerts are specific to COVID-19 testing.  CHIE Alerts are specific to admit, discharge or transfers from a hospital, emergency department, or post-acute care setting.

There are distinct differences in the format of Lab Alerts messages. If your organization is currently processing CHIE Alerts automatically through your own system, contact our team at apace@uhin.org to ensure that the new format will not disrupt your current processes. 

Q – Who can receive Alerts?

A – Physicians, nurses, case managers, and other associated care team members who have a care relationship with a patient can be notified about changes in that patient’s health status through Alerts. This includes both CHIE Alerts (ADT notifications) and Lab Results Alerts.

Q – Can I have both?

A – Yes.

Are you already receiving CHIE Alerts? 

Yes – Send an email to apace@uhin.org  requesting to enable Alerts for Lab results.  **Make sure to include your facility name          

No – Send an email to enrollment@uhin.org requesting to begin receiving CHIE Alerts and/or Lab Result Alerts.

Q – How are Alerts sent to me?

A – CHIE Alerts and Lab Result Alerts can be delivered via HTML, HL7, SFTP, or Direct secure email. These can be delivered real-time or in a scheduled batch. 

Q – How do you know who my patients are?

A – If you are currently a data source to the CHIE, you are already telling us who your patients are by sending us an ADT when your patient presents to be seen.  If you are not sending information to the CHIE, you would have to provide us a listing/panel of your patients.

Q – How quickly could I begin receiving Lab Result Alerts?

A – If you are already receiving CHIE Alerts, you could begin receiving the Lab Result Alerts as soon as 24 hours after notifying apace@uhin.org.

If you are signing up for CHIE Alerts for the first time, the process includes contacting UHIN’s Enrollment Team (enrollment@uhin.org). Once the appropriate paperwork is completed, you will work with UHIN’s team to provide the list of your patients and determine the delivery route.  Due to the time-sensitive nature of COVID-19 lab results, our teams have made this a high priority and will work with you to accelerate the process as much as possible.

Q – Who is UHIN and what is the CHIE?

A – Uniquely, UHIN is a nonprofit organization founded in 1993.  We work to create a more connected healthcare system that drives innovation, collaboration, and inclusiveness. UHIN is a community convener, bringing together disparate healthcare provider, payers, the state government. We provide clearinghouse services to providers, payers and state government, while also serving as the Utah state-designated health information exchange, known as the CHIE. The CHIE provides a patient-centric longitudinal record amongst disparate providers and healthcare facilities. For more information, please go to our website at https://uhin.org/

Q – Is there a cost for this?

A –  Free for current CHIE Members: Lab Result Alerts are covered under CHIE membership costs. If your organization is already a CHIE member there will be no additional cost. 

Free for 60 days for new CHIE Members (ending June 30, 2020): CHIE Alerts and Lab Result Alerts will be available at no cost to those physicians and care teams who are not currently CHIE members. 

Why is it free for only 60 days? We are optimistic that the situation will stabilize in the next 60 days, at which time we will re-evaluate to determine the needs of the community based on the severity of the COVID-19 crisis. 

What if I want to continue receiving Alerts after the 60 days? Please contact us at enrollment@uhin.org if you would like to continue to receive either the CHIE Alerts (ADT) or Lab Result Alerts.

·       The CHIE Alerts system sends your team secure notifications when your patients are admitted to, or discharged from, a hospital or emergency department, so you can coordinate care more effectively.

·       Alerts subscribers are notified of important patient events for real-time care coordination.

·       When your patients have been hospitalized, they need timely follow-up care to lessen their risk of readmission or complications.

·       You can receive CHIE Alerts in real time or choose custom delivery times.

Q – Which labs are sending results data to UHIN?

A – Below is the list of hospitals, clinics and other organizations currently sending COVID-19 lab results to UHIN. If your organization is not on the list, but would like to help our community by sending your COVID-19 data, please reach out to our team at apace@uhin.org.

Independent hospitals, clinics and medical centers, including:

Beaver Valley Hospital

Blue Mountain Hospital

Central Valley Medical Center

Gunnison Valley Hospital

Kane County Hospital

Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County

Milford Valley Healthcare Services

Moab Regional Hospital 

St. Mark’s Family Medicine

Uinta Basin Medical Center

Intermountain Healthcare hospitals, clinics and medical centers, including:

Alta View Hospital

American Fork Hospital

Bear River Valley Hospital

Cassia Regional Hospital

Cedar City Hospital

Delta Community Hospital

Dixie Regional Medical Center

Fillmore Community Hospital

Garfield Memorial Hospital

Heber Valley Hospital

Intermountain Medical Center

Layton Hospital

LDS Hospital

Logan Regional Hospital

McKay-Dee Hospital

Orem Community Hospital

Park City Hospital

Primary Children’s Hospital

Riverton Hospital

Sanpete Valley Hospital

Sevier Valley Hospital

Utah Valley Hospital

HCA Healthcare hospitals, clinics and medical centers, including:

Brigham City Community Hospital

Cache Valley Hospital

Lakeview Hospital

Lone Peak Hospital

Mountain View Hospital

Ogden Regional Medical Center

St. Mark’s Hospital

Timpanogos Regional Hospital

Revere Health Clinics (includes all clinics)

Steward Healthcare hospitals and medical centers, including:

Davis Hospital and Medical Center

Jordan Valley Medical Center

Jordan Valley Medical Center West

Mountain Point Medical Center

Salt Lake Regional Medical Center

University of Utah hospitals and clinics, including:

Huntsman Cancer Institute

University of Utah Hospital

University of Utah In-Car Testing Sites

Includes all clinics 

Click below to download a PDF of the FAQs:

Download

Soft Skills are the new Hard Skills, and Here’s Why

by UHIN

The Presentation

We’ve minimized soft skills for decades. Compelling research shows we’ve been wrong all along. Yes, skills and experience remain important. However, the lack of characteristics of trust, mutual respect, and integrity can quite literally destroy an otherwise skilled and experienced team. The data prove out. Come learn why and what you can do about it.

The Presenter

Michael Page, AuD has served as a member of the Utah Cochlear Implant team, and as president of the Utah Speech-Language-Hearing Association, member of the Primary Children’s Medical Center Bioethics Committee, and board chair for DOPL. He has held adjunct faculty positions at Utah State University, Brigham Young University, University of Utah and University of the Pacific (San Francisco). He served as chair of the AAA Ethical Practices Committee, Manager of Cochlear Implant Program at Primary Children’s Hospital, as well as various management and executive positions with industry. He is a business consultant for healthcare and education specializing in ethical practice, professional relationships, strategic planning and healing low-trust working environments. 

This webinar features content originally scheduled for the in-person Provider Education Summit (PES) events.

Additional Resources

Passing the Word: Toward a Model of Gossip and Power in the Workplace
http://www.csun.edu/~nkurland/PDFs/AMR%20Gossip%202000.pdf

UC Riverside Study Busts Myths about Gossip
https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2019/05/03/uc-riverside-study-busts-myths-about-gossip

Harvard Research Proves Toxic Employees Destroy Your Culture and Your Bottom Line
https://www.inc.com/marissa-levin/harvard-research-proves-toxic-employees-destroy-your-culture-your-bottom-line.html

It’s Better to Avoid a Toxic Employee Than Hire a Superstar
https://hbr.org/2015/12/its-better-to-avoid-a-toxic-employee-than-hire-a-superstar

Toxic Workers
 http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/16-057_d45c0b4f-fa19-49de-8f1b-4b12fe054fea.pdf

Who Gossips and How Often in Everyday Life, Social Psychological and Personality Science.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550619837000?journalCode=sppa

How Do You Deal with Difficult-People
https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/0217/pages/how-do-you-deal-with-difficult-people.aspx

Workplace Gossip:  What Crosses the Line?
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/office-gossip-policies.aspx

The Weakest Link: Identifying and Vanquishing Compliance Risks

by UHIN

The Presentation

The precipitous rise of cyber attacks, new privacy regulations, stricter enforcement, and private litigation are changing the compliance landscape right beneath our feet. At the same time, some of the best ways to keep your practice compliant are simple, inexpensive and straightforward. Together we will explore today’s threats to your practice and the uncomplicated, totally reasonable steps you can take to address them.

The Presenter

Robyn Johns is the Compliance Officer at Med USA, a medical billing and practice management provider. Robyn discovered the healthcare business as a college student with her first “real” job at the front desk. After graduating, she pursued her career in practice management. Robyn has worked with a variety of specialties and practice sizes in billing, denial management, payer audits, payer enrollment, and operations management. She has also focused on the area of ethics and compliance for over 20 years. Robyn is a relentless learner, and with new treatments, payment models, and regulations every day, she is never bored!

This webinar features content originally scheduled for the in-person Provider Education Summit (PES) events.

PES Virtual Payer Panel 2020

by UHIN

COVID-19 may have put a damper on the 2020 Provider Education Summit, but that doesn’t mean we can’t deliver a great educational event to our amazing community! In collaboration with our local payers, we hosted the first-ever PES Virtual Payer Panel!

The payer panel is always a highlight of the PES events and features experts from more than a dozen payers. In 2020, we hosted the panel as an interactive live webinar with a Q&A format. 

Panelist Contact Information (additional contacts will be added as they are received):

Molina: The Molina email address for Provider Services requests/questions is MHUProviderServicesRequests@MolinaHealthCare.Com.

Aetna:
For Commercial Plans – 888-632-3862
For Government Plans – 800-624-0756
Workers Comp – 800-238-6288
ASA and Meritain – Number on back of member’s ID card

Click below to access the transcript of the event and answers to questions we didn’t cover during the event. Additional answers will be added as they become available. (Last Updated: 5/5/2020)

PES Virtual Payer Panel 2020 Transcript

Additional Panel Answers