Objective 9: Secure Electronic Messaging

What the objective requires   What that means for you   Are you excluded from having to do this?
Use secure electronic messaging to communicate with patients on relevant health information.  

For an EHR reporting period in 2016, for at least 1 patient seen by the EP during the EHR reporting period, a secure message was sent using the electronic messaging function of CEHRT to the patient (or the patient‐authorized representative), or in response to a secure message sent by the patient (or the patient‐authorized representative) during the EHR reporting period.

  

Any EP who has no office visits during the EHR reporting period, or any EP who conducts 50% or more of his or her patient encounters in a county that does not have 50% or more of its housing units with 4Mbps broadband availability according to the latest information available from the FCC on the first day of the EHR reporting period.

We recommend that you set up a kiosk where you can educate your patients on how to send a secure message and also view, download, or transmit their health information through the Patient Portal.

At least 1 patient must use the Patient Portal to send a secure message during the reporting period.

Patients must use the Patient Portal to send a secure message. You must register a patient for the Patient Portal so they are able to use it. See our Online Help Topic on the Patient Portal for instructions to register a patient for the portal.

If patients need assistance sending a secure message using the Patient Portal, refer to our Online Help Topic on the Patient Portal.

When you click the Calculate button in the EHR Dashboard application, the software will reflect your progress toward compliance on the EHR dashboard under Secure Electronic Messaging.

When a patient sends you a message using the Patient Portal, your ChiroTouch software will display an indicator in the Messages icon on the Launcher.

  1. Click the Messages icon.
  2. In the Messages window, click the Secure Patient Mail tab. The software will display a list of secure messages sent from patients. Click a message to display its contents.

Secure Message – Any electronic communication between a provider and patient that ensures only those parties can access the communication. This electronic message could be email or the electronic messaging function of a PHR, an online patient portal, or any other electronic means.

Fully Enabled - The function is fully installed, any security measures are fully enabled, and the function is readily available for patient use.

The numerator must be greater than or equal to 1 during the EHR reporting period.

You can claim an exclusion if you are an EP who:

  • Has no office visits during the EHR reporting period; or any EP who conducts 50% or more of his or her patient encounters in a county that does not have 50% or more of its housing units with 4 Mbps broadband availability according to the latest information available from the FCC on the first day of the EHR reporting period.

The thresholds for this measure increase over time between to allow providers to work incrementally toward a high goal. This is consistent with our past policy in the program to establish incremental change from basic to advanced use and increased thresholds over time. The measure threshold for this objective was “fully enabled” for 2015, and is at least one patient for 2016, and a threshold of 5 percent for 2017 to build toward the Stage 3 threshold.

Provider initiated action and interactions with a patient-authorized representative, are acceptable for the measure and are included in the numerator.

A patient-initiated message would only count toward the numerator if the provider responds to the patient. • The action for the numerator must occur within the calendar year but may occur before, during, or after the EHR reporting period if that period is less than one full calendar year.

In order to meet this objective and measure, an EP must use the capabilities and standards of CEHRT at 45 CFR 170.314(e)(3).