Since CMS finalized new patient event notification Conditions of Participation (CoPs) – as part of the Interoperability and Patient Access final rule – in early March, we have broken down several aspects of the CoPs to help hospitals better understand what is required to comply by the May 1, 2021 deadline. Below, we revisit some of the most critical components to understanding – and complying with – these patient event notification CoPs, and how CarePort Interop can benefit your organization.
The Role of HIEs
Because hospitals may contribute their ADT feed to a health information exchange (HIE), hospitals seeking to comply with CMS’s new CoP requirements may be wondering whether their participation in an HIE fulfills the updated CoPs. Ultimately, a hospital’s HIE may help with some patient event notification CoP requirements, but an HIE cannot ensure compliance if they can only reach providers that subscribe to their alerting service – and sending only an ADT feed also cannot ensure compliance. Learn why a third-party offering such as CarePort Interop provides a more comprehensive solution than an HIE in identifying and notifying providers, reaching out-of-network providers and fitting into existing workflows here.
Intermediaries
To reduce the burden of fulfilling CoP requirements, CMS’s final rule explicitly recognizes the ability of a third-party – or intermediary – to facilitate patient event notifications on behalf of hospitals. Hospitals should seek a third-party offering that matches patients effectively, and delivers notifications to an established national network of almost any post-acute provider and physician – including those in- and out-of-network. Learn how CarePort is uniquely positioned to help here.
A National Network
To comply with CMS’s interoperability electronic patient event notification CoPs, hospitals must be able to reach anyone – including 1) post-acute providers with whom the patient has an established care relationship immediately preceding hospital registration or admission, or to whom the patient is being transferred or referred; and 2) in- or out-of-network physicians primarily responsible for the patient’s care. CarePort’s national, established post-acute network is unparalleled and connects more than 110,000 post-acute providers (SNF, HHA, LTACH, IRF, Hospice), as well as 850,000 direct-enabled physicians on ONC-certified EHRs. Learn more here.
The Regulatory Landscape
As hospitals work to comply with CMS’s patient event notification CoP requirements, it is critical to understand the broader regulatory framework – including the ONC’s 21st Century Cures Act and CMS’s Promoting Interoperability – and how the new patient event notification CoPs fit within this existing framework. For example, though program requirements may seem similar, CMS’s patient event notification CoPs are not a part of the Promoting Interoperability Program, nor can hospitals demonstrate compliance with patient event notification CoPs simply by participating in Promoting Interoperability. Learn more about the complex regulatory landscape here.
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Is there anything else you’d like to know about CMS’s patient event notification CoPs? Contact us if you think we’ve missed anything.
