At the Forefront of Healthcare Transformation 

ILHITREC
INTERCHANGE
NEWSLETTER

October 2021


Information Blocking Resources for EPs
Healthcare providers are required to respond to legitimate requests to exchange or provide electronic health information. Requests could come from a patient, another provider, health plan or public health agency needing information for clinical purposes. The Information Blocking Final Rule defines information blocking as any practice that is likely to interfere, discourage or prevent access or sharing of patient information. 

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has prepared multiple resources, including webinars, fact sheets and FAQs. This rule went into effect April 5, 2021 and proposed penalties are expected soon. 

Please visit: https://www.healthit.gov/curesrule/resources to view this valuable information specifically for clinicians. 
CMS Offers Bulk Upload of Files into NPPES
In May 2020 CMS finalized the policy to publicly report the names and National Provider Identifiers of providers who don’t have digital contact information included in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES).
 
CMS now has added the functionality to bulk upload files into NPPES though the NPPES Electronic File Interchange (EFI) process, making it easier for larger practices to upload their direct addresses or endpoints. Endpoints allow healthcare providers to send authenticated, encrypted health information directly to trusted recipients securely over the internet.
 
CMS plans to publicly report providers missing digital contact information by the end of 2021, so now is a good time to take advantage of this new functionality. For more information, visit: https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/OBRHI
Important Information 
on the 
Security Risk Analysis Objective 
for 2021 Medicaid PI Attestation 
The Security Risk Analysis (SRA) Objective Requirements:

  • SRA must be uploaded into the documents section in eMIPP under the SRA category in a pdf format only.
  • SRA should still cover the entire year retrospectively from the beginning of the year to the point of analysis and prospectively from the point of analysis to the end of the year.
  • Providers have the option to wait to upload their SRA by the end of the year if they choose to and still attest by the deadline.
  • Please read the choices carefully as shown below in the screenshot of whether you need to attest Yes or No.
  • Yes = If you answer Yes, then the SRA must be uploaded with the attestation.
  • No = The SRA must be uploaded prior to the December 31st, 2021 deadline. 
  • Providers can receive payment before their SRA is uploaded if they meet all other program requirements.
  • If the SRA is not uploaded by 12/31/2021 it will result in an automatic audit of payment.
About Support Provided by ILHITREC
The Illinois Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (ILHITREC), under contract with the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services (HFS), is providing education, outreach, EHR, and Meaningful Use support to Medicaid providers for the Promoting Interoperability Program. Contact us at info@ILHITREC.org.