News
June 30, 2016 - Readiness Statement for 2017 Interoperability Stage 3
The New Mexico Department of health is able to accept the following for providers who are attesting to Interoperability Stage 3 in 2017.
Immunization Reporting
The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) Immunization Program has published the local implementation guide for sending immunization data to the New Mexico Statewide Immunization Information System (NMSIIS). Information is available by clicking here. NMSIIS is able to accept HL7 2.5.1 messages that meet the requirements specified in the published guide.
Immunization Reporting readiness for Interoperability Stage 3 is not expected until third quarter 2017. This page will be updated when an exact date is known.
Electronic Laboratory Reporting
Laboratories and hospitals wanting to send data to the NMDOH must follow the HL7 Version 2.5.1 Implementation Guide: Electronic Laboratory Reporting to Public Health, Release 1 purchased at https://www.hl7.org/store/index.cfm.
In order to submit Electronic Laboratory Reports (ELR) to the NMDOH, it is the responsibility for each reporting laboratory to crosswalk their local test codes to LOINC values. The most current LOINC table can be found at http://www.loinc.org/ where there are additional tools available to assist with the crosswalk.
Electronic Laboratory Reporting readiness for Interoperability Stage 3 is currently in place at NMDOH because there are no changes to the HL7 implementation guide. Please note revalidation may be necessary if an update to or a new CHERT is implemented.
Syndromic Surveillance
The New Mexico Department of Health is onboarding eligible hospitals and physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who are working in an urgent care clinic or a primary care clinic. If you have any questions regarding the types of practitioners that the Department is interested in for onboarding, please contact contact the Health Systems Epidemiology Program at syndromic.surveillance@state.nm.us Providers wanting to send data to the NMDOH must follow the PHIN Messaging Guide for Syndromic Surveillance which can be found at www.cdc.gov. The NMDOH is able to accept HL7 version 2.5.1 for message types of A01, A03, A04 and A08.
Syndromic Surveillance Reporting readiness for Interoperability Stage 3 is limited to those in an urgent care setting. At this time the New Mexico Department of Health is onboarding eligible hospitals and physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who are working in an urgent care clinic or a primary care clinic. If you have any questions regarding the types of practitioners that the NMDOH is interested in for onboarding, please contact the Health Systems Epidemiology Program at syndromic.surveillance@state.nm.us.
Electronic Case Reporting
Electronic Case Reporting for Interoperability Stage 3 is in available until 2018.
March 20, 2015 - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Announcement: Stage 3 Rule of Interoperability
On March 20, 2015 the proposed rule for stage 3 of the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs went on display. It was published in test Federal Register on March 30, 2015 and the comment period closed on May 29, 2015. The rule gives more flixibility and simplifies requirements for providers by focusing on advanced use of electronic health records and eliminated requirements that are no longer relevant.
March 20, 2015 - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) -- Prepare for Program Year 2015
CMS had release two notices of proposed rulemaking for the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs, and the ONC had released notice of proposed rulemaking on new EHR certification criteria for 2015.
Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals who wish to attest in the New Mexico Medicaid EHR Incentive Program for Program Year 2015 going forward should familiarize themselves with the proposed new requirements and the subsequent Final Rules to insure they will have the necessary certified EHR technology and data to successfully attest in the future.
Click on each NPRM title for more information.
The Modifications to Interoperability in 2015-2017 NPRM would change the EHR reporting period in 2015 to a 90-day period aligned with the calendar year; it also would align the EHR reporting period in 2016 with the calendar year; and would remove reporting requirements on measures which have become redundant, duplicative, or topped out through advancements in EHR function and provider performance for Stage 1 and Stage 2. The Modifications NPRM is open for comment until June 15, 2015.
The 2015 Edition Certification Criteria introduces a new edition of certification criteria, or “2015 Edition,” and proposes to modify the ONC Health IT Certification Program to make it open and accessible to more types of health IT and health IT that supports various care and practice settings.
The Stage 3 of Interoperability NPRM specifies the interoperability criteria that eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals (EHs), and critical access hospitals (CAHs) must meet in order to qualify for EHR Incentive Programs, and avoid downward payment adjustments under Medicare for Stage 3. It would also change the EHR reporting period so that all providers would report under a full calendar year timeline with a limited exception for providers demonstrating interoperability for the first time in the Medicaid Program.
For more information on the NM Medicaid EHR Program, please visit the Eligible Professionals or Eligible Hospitals sections on the New Mexico Human Services Department website.
Click here to access the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services EHR Incentive Program website.
December 4, 2012 - PHIN Messaging Guide for Syndromic Surveillance Revisions
Please comment now through December 21, 2012The syndromic surveillance community has provided valuable feedback throughout the Messaging Guide revisions. We hope you will continue to assist us in the revision process by commenting on Release 1.3.
About the project:ISDS, in partnership and with the support of the Division of Informatics Solutions and Operations (OSELS) of the CDC, is revising the PHIN Messaging Guide for Syndromic Surveillance. Release 1.3 strives to improve and build upon previous Guide releases by clarifying ambiguities from Release 1.0, responding to stakeholder feedback on prior releases, and incorporating ISDS’s new recommendations for inpatient data use for syndromic surveillance. Following this community comment period, the Guide will be revised further, and a finalized version will be released in the spring of 2013.
We would like to thank our colleagues at the Washington State Department of Health for providing support and assistance in developing the laboratory specifications.
About Release 1.3:Release 1.3 of the Messaging Guide provides a conformance profile for EHR Interoperability certification. It also includes an important update that creates a “Hospital Messaging Guide” incorporating Emergency Department, Urgent Care and Hospital Inpatient specifications. The goal of this Guide is to provide HL7 messaging specifications for hospitals providing clinical data to a public health agency for syndromic surveillance. This goal contrasts with that of the recently released ISDS
Recommendations because it focuses on the technical specifications for providing the recommended data elements rather than the reasoning behind the data recommendations.
The new Messaging Guide Release 1.3 will improve upon prior releases by:
- Clarifying ambiguities from Release 1.0
- Responding to stakeholder feedback on prior releases
- Incorporating guidelines recommended by the ISDS Interoperability Workgroup for inpatient syndromic surveillance data
- Facilitating the formation of syndromic surveillance data exchange between hospitals (now including inpatient) and public health agencies
- Consolidating and clarifying hospital EHR conformance requirements for Interoperability certification
How to provide comments:Stakeholder input helps ensure that the Guide will have widespread utility to facilitate both EHR development and the implementation of hospital-based syndromic surveillance systems.
We encourage everyone interested in this initiative to provide comments on the Messageing Guide Release 1.3. You may provide feedback via an online survey or by emailing your comments to Becky Zwickl, MPH, ISDS Public Health Analyst, at
bzwickl@syndromic.org. The comment period ends on Friday, December 21, 2012, 11:59 pm EST.
November 16, 2012 - ONC to request public comments on MU Stage 3
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is expected to call for public comment on a draft of Stage 3 interoperability requirements this month, according to leaders of ONC's HIT Policy Committee. Click here for the press release.
August 24, 2012 - ONC Fact Sheet: 2014 Edition Standards & Certification Criteria (S&CC) - Final Rule
The 2014 Edition S&CC final rule completes the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC) second full rulemaking cycle to adopt standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for EHR technology. This final rule complements the newly released Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) final rule which establishes Stage 2 of the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, updates Stage 1, and includes other program modifications.
August 23, 2012 HHS announces next steps to promote use of electronic health records and health information exchange. Today, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the next steps in the Obama administration’s work to help doctors and hospitals use electronic health records.
August 23, 2012 - CMS Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs: Stage 2 Final Rule
On August 23, 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a final rule to govern Stage 2 of the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. The rule specifies the Stage 2 criteria that eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) must meet in order to continue to participate in the EHR Incentive Programs.
August 13, 2012 Albuquerque, NM -- Santa Rosa Medical Clinic and its sister clinic the Quay County Medical Clinic were recognized by the New Mexico Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (NM HITREC) for achieving interoperability of electronic health records under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.
August 7, 2012 Albuquerque, NM – The New Mexico Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (NM HITREC) has surpassed its program goal of working with 1,035 priority primary care providers in the state. NM HITREC has enrolled over 1,100 primary care providers in the program and is working with over 200 participating practices at more than 400 sites in 32 of the 33 counties.
June 27, 2012 Three New Mexico healthcare leaders attended a national Health IT Town Hall in recognition for achieving interoperability of electronic health records. The attendees were nominated by the New Mexico Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (NM HITREC) and selected by the White House to attend the event on June 19.
February 27, 2012 The Office of the National Coordinator for HIT (ONC) has released a proposed rule to set standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria for electronic health records under the Stage 2 interoperability program.
The rule, available here available here, is a companion to the core Stage 2 rule released on Feb. 23 that governs much of the program, including the setting of interoperability criteria. Both rules are scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on March 7, with a 60-day comment period to follow.
"The proposed new and revised certification criteria would establish the technical capabilities and specify the related standards and implementation specifications that certified electronic health record technology would need to include to, at a minimum, support the achievement of interoperability by eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs beginning with the EHR reporting periods in fiscal year and calendar year 2014," ONC states in the rule.
The proposed rule also would revise the permanent EHR certification program. Vendors for instance, would not have to re-certify functionality required under Stage 1 that carries over to Stage 2, but only obtain “gap certification” of new requirements. Providers would be required only to have the EHR functionality needed to demonstrate interoperability.
Source: Health Data Management Online Publication. Obtained February 28, 2012.
January 23, 2012 – The New Mexico Human Services Department announces "NM Medicaid Issues $11.7 Million in Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program Payments."
December 13, 2011 - The New Mexico Department of Health announces electronic immunization data exchange.
December 5, 2011 - The New Mexico Department of Health announces the availability of the New Mexico Health Information Technology (NMHIT) website at www.nmhit.org for health care providers to test their public health reporting messages to meet Stage 1 of interoperability requirements. The NMHIT website automates the testing of HL7 messages for electronic laboratory reporting and immunization reporting.