Dept. of Public Health Readies New Immunization-Messaging Portal
Next month, the California Department of Public Health plans to launch an immunization-messaging portal that could help health care providers qualify for meaningful use incentive payments, Healthcare Informatics reports.
Meaningful Use Requirements
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
Under Stage 1 of the meaningful use program, providers must meet at least one item from a list of public health objectives, which includes the electronic submission of immunization data.
Under Stage 2, registration with the California Immunization Registry portal is mandatory.
Details of the Portal
The immunization-messaging portal will give providers the ability to:
- Register with CAIR and receive information necessary for submitting immunization data to the registry;
- Submit test HL7-formatted messages for validation and meaningful use attestation; and
- Complete follow-up testing necessary to qualify for ongoing data submission to the registry.
The portal also will remind providers to submit additional test messages in 2013 if they did not achieve ongoing submission to a registry for 2012 (Raths, Healthcare Informatics, 7/19).
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