Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(1)
Provider Organizations.
(a) The requirement that all providers shall
connect to the Mass HIway applies to the following provider organizations.
1. Acute care hospitals;
2. Community health centers (large and
small); and
3. Medical ambulatory
practices (large and medium).
(b) EOHHS may issue administrative bulletins
or other issuances establishing Mass HIway connection dates for additional
provider organizations. Such guidance will provide at least one year for
affected provider organizations to connect to the Mass HIway.
(2)
Health Care
Systems with Multiple Provider Organizations. For health care
systems that comprise multiple provider organizations, the requirements in
101
CMR 20.00 apply to provider organizations as they are
defined in
101 CMR 20.04. For
example, if a health care system is comprised of multiple acute care hospitals
and multiple medical ambulatory practices, then each acute care hospital within
that health care system is required to meet the Mass HIway connection
requirements for acute care hospitals described in 101 CMR 20.08(3) and (4),
and each medical ambulatory practice within that health care system is required
to meet the Mass HIway connection requirement for medical ambulatory practices
described in 101 CMR 20.08(3).
(3)
Connection Requirement for All Provider Organizations.
(a) All provider organizations that have
required Mass HIway connection dates specified in
101 CMR
20.09 or in a subsequent administrative
bulletin or other issuance, shall meet the M.G.L. c. 118I, § 7 requirement
to connect to the Mass HIway by sending and receiving HIway Direct
Messages.
(b) The requirement to
connect to the Mass HIway by sending and receiving HIway Direct Messages shall
be under the following phased-in timeline.
1.
Year 1. The provider organization shall send or
receive HIway Direct Messages for at least one use case. The use case may be
within any category of use cases.
2.
Year 2. The
provider organization shall send or receive HIway Direct Messages for at least
one use case that is within the provider-to-provider communications category of
use cases.
3.
Year
3. The provider organization shall send HIway Direct Messages for
at least one use case that is within the provider-to-provider communications
category of use cases. The provider organization shall also receive HIway
Direct Messages for at least one use case that is within the
provider-to-provider communications category of use cases. One of these two use
cases may be the use case that was used to meet the Year 2
requirement.
4.
Year
4. The provider organization may be subject to penalties, as
described in
101 CMR 20.13, if that
organization has not met the requirements established in 101 CMR
20.08(3).
(c) Sending or
receiving HIway Direct Messages for any category of use case in Years 1, 2 and
3 is fulfilled by a provider organization consistently using HIway Direct
Messaging for that use case when it is appropriate to do so.
(d) Provider organizations must submit to
EOHHS a use case narrative outlining how the Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3
requirements have been fulfilled in accordance with 101 CMR 20.08(3)(b) through
(c). Use case examples and submission requirements are established in the Mass
HIway Policies and Procedures.
(e)
101 CMR
20.09 provides the dates for Year 1, Year 2,
Year 3, and Year 4 for different provider organizations.
(4)
Connection Requirement for
Acute Care Hospitals.
(a) In
addition to the requirement to connect to the Mass HIway by sending and
receiving HIway Direct Messaging, as described in 101 CMR 20.08(3), acute care
hospitals must disclose all, consistent with their obligations under
101 CMR
20.07, and federal and state privacy laws
including, but not limited to, HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, Human Immunodeficiency
Virus, and genetic testing, ADTs or equivalent messages regarding emergency
department visits and hospital admissions, discharges and transfers to at least
one certified ENS vendor within the statewide event notification service
framework; the recipient certified ENS vendor(s) must then reflect ADTs to all
certified ENS vendors for purposes of treatment or care coordination by ENS
recipients.
(b) Acute care
hospitals must meet the requirement in 101 CMR 20.08(4)(a) by January 1,
2020.
(c) If an acute care hospital
implements a local opt-in or local opt-out process that limits ADTs that are
sent to the statewide event notification service, that provider organization
must actively educate staff and inform patients about the purpose of utilizing
an event notification service, and report metrics in form and format required
in the Mass HIway Policies and Procedures.
(d) Penalties for not complying with 101 CMR
20.08(4)(a) through (c) take effect on July 1, 2020.