Source
ONC analysis of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program data, September 2016. CMS.gov.
Citation
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. 'Hospital Selection of Public Health Measures in Medicare EHR Incentive Program,' Health IT Quick-Stat #16. https://www.healthit.gov/data/quickstats/hospital-selection-public-health-measures-medicare-ehr-incentive-program. November 2016.
In 2015, 4,043 eligible and Critical Access hospitals (EH) reported to the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. 90 percent of hospitals attested to stage 2 of meaningful use. 93 percent of all hospitals reported active engagement with an immunization registry, 88 percent reported electronic reportable laboratory results data, and 76 percent reported syndromic surveillance data to a public health agency. Less than 5 percent of hospitals reported active engagement with a specialized registry - a new public health reporting measure in 2015.
In 2015, EHs attesting to stage 2 of meaningful use were required to report active engagement or claim a permitted exclusion for 3 of the public health reporting measures; modified stage 2 required EHs to report active engagement or claim a permitted exclusion for 2 of the 4 measures.
Table:
Public health reporting by stage of meaningful use
| Public health reporting data | Stage of meaningful use | Hospitals (N) | Active in reporting electronic data | Claimed exclusion1 | Did not report |
| Electronic reportable laboratory results | Modified Stage 2/Stage 1 | 472 | 55% | 13% | 32% |
| Stage 2 | 3,571 | 92% | 7% | 1% | |
| Immunization registry | Modified Stage 2/Stage 1 | 472 | 78% | 15% | 7% |
| Stage 2 | 3,571 | 95% | 5% | 0% | |
| Specialized registry | Modified Stage 2/Stage 1 | 472 | 3% | 25% | 72% |
| Stage 2 | 3,571 | 4% | 26% | 70% | |
| Syndromic surveillance | Modified Stage 2/Stage 1 | 472 | 50% | 23% | 27% |
| Stage 2 | 3,571 | 80% | 19% | 1% |
1 The EHR Incentive Program allows EHs to claim an exclusion from reporting on a public health measure. See below for permitted exclusions for each public health data element.
Permitted exclusions // https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Downloads/2015EH_9PublicHealthObjective.pdf.
Electronic reportable laboratory results: [The EH] (1) Does not perform or order laboratory tests that are reportable in their jurisdiction during the EHR reporting period; (2) Operates in a jurisdiction for which no public health agency is capable of accepting the specific ELR standards required to meet the CEHRT definition at the start of the EHR reporting period; or (3) Operates in a jurisdiction where no public health agency has declared readiness to receive electronic reportable laboratory results from eligible hospitals or CAHs at the start of the EHR reporting period.
Immunization registry: [The EH] (1) Does not administer any immunizations to any of the populations for which data is collected by its jurisdiction's immunization registry or immunization information system during the EHR reporting period; (2) Operates in a jurisdiction for which no immunization registry or immunization information system is capable of accepting the specific standards required to meet the CEHRT definition at the start of the EHR reporting period; or (3) Operates in a jurisdiction where no immunization registry or immunization information system has declared readiness to receive immunization data from the eligible hospital or CAH at the start of the EHR reporting period.
Specialized registry: [The EH] (1) Does not diagnose or treat any disease or condition associated with, or collect relevant data that is collected by, a specialized registry in their jurisdiction during the EHR reporting period; (2) Operates in a jurisdiction for which no specialized registry is capable of accepting electronic registry transactions in the specific standards required to meet the CEHRT definition at the start of the EHR reporting period; or (3) Operates in a jurisdiction where no specialized registry for which the eligible hospital or CAH is eligible has declared readiness to receive electronic registry transactions at the beginning of the EHR reporting period.
Syndromic surveillance: [The EH] (1) Does not have an emergency or urgent care department; (2) Operates in a jurisdiction for which no public health agency is capable of receiving electronic syndromic surveillance data from eligible hospitals or CAHs in the specific standards required to meet the CEHRT definition at the start of the EHR reporting period; or (3) Operates in a jurisdiction where no public health agency has declared readiness to receive syndromic surveillance data from eligible hospitals or CAHs at the start of the EHR reporting period.
2 390 of the 472 hospitals that attested to modified stage 2/stage 1 in 2015 reported under the modified stage 2 requirements, and, like EHs that attested to stage 2, were required to report active engagement with a public health agency to electronically report the public health data. 82 hospitals attested to the unmodified stage 1 requirements. These 82 hospitals were required to perform at least one test of its certified EHR technology's capacity to electronically send the data to a public health agency.