News from MeHI
August 2019
Digital Health Sandbox Program Expands
Seeks New Applicants
On April 24, 2019,  Governor Charlie Baker announced a grant program designed to support digital health companies with their product development by expanding access to 'R&D sandboxes', cutting-edge research and development facilities that support validation and testing of digital health products. The program, administered by MeHI as part of its work under the Massachusetts Digital Health Initiative, initially launched with PracticePoint at Worcester Polytechnic Institute as the first official digital health sandbox, but is now expanding to include more facilities that will provide startups with opportunities to test their innovative products.
 
Massachusetts organizations that provide an environment to test digital health products and services can now apply to become an Approved Massachusetts Digital Health Sandbox . Approved sandboxes are eligible to receive grant funding to support projects that validate the products and services offered by digital health companies with a presence in Massachusetts. Growing digital health companies can also apply for funding to access an R&D sandbox under the program. Details below.
AARP Innovation Labs and AGENCY
Shine a Spotlight on Startups
On July 25th, MeHI participated in a Startup Pitchfest sponsored by AARP Innovation Labs . Held in Cambridge and hosted by AGENCY , the Global Longevity Collaborative at the Cambridge Innovation Center, startups pitched their solutions for older adults to ease chronic health conditions associated with social isolation.
 
Judith Iwanski, Manager of Digital Health Aging and Caregiving Initiative at MeHI was a guest judge at the event, which was co-hosted by Danielle D. Duplin, Cofounder and Global Launch Director, AGENCY, and Jacqueline Michelle Baker, Director of Innovation Programming for AARP Innovation Labs. Other judges included Natanel Barookhian, Founder, TechU Deeptech Ventures; and Nell Meosky Luo, Founder and CEO at Boston-based Folia Health, Inc.
 
The winning companies both come from the Mass Digital Health sector:

  • Boston-based Sunu, a wearable technology company that helps visually-impaired older adults navigate their surroundings with confidence, and
  • Pong Robotics, from Concord, which has a new kind of mobility scooter that is 'as practical as a wheelchair and as fun as a Segway.'

The two startups will compete against winners from other regional competitions at AARP Innovation Lab's Grand Pitch Finale in Washington, DC., later this fall.
Medicaid Updates
Reminder: 2015 Edition CEHRT
To participate in the Medicaid EHR Program for 2019, Eligible Professionals (EPs) must upgrade to the 2015 Edition of Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) as soon as possible. The 2015 Edition CEHRT must be installed and used for the entirety of the selected 90-day EHR reporting period.

The 2015 Edition CEHRT functionality is required for EPs to meet Meaningful Use  Stage 3 requirements. If your EPs have not yet upgraded, start the process now, before it's too late. If EPs don’t upgrade to the 2015 Edition CEHRT before  October 3rd, they won’t be able to attest to Program Year 2019.

To learn more about the 2015 Edition CEHRT requirement, click  here.
Mass HIway Updates
Mass HIway Connection Requirement
All Acute Care Hospitals, Large Community Health Centers, Large and Medium Medical Ambulatory Practices, and Small Community Health Centers in Massachusetts were required to submit an Attestation Form  by July 31, 2019,  explaining how they had met the requirement to connect to the Mass HIway in accordance with 101 CMR 20.00 (also known as the  Mass HIway Regulations ) .

Even though the deadline has passed, the HIway urges all Provider Organizations with a connection requirement to make a submission. If an organization was unable to meet the requirement, an authorized representative must complete an Exception Form for review and consideration by the Mass HIway.

Provider Organizations must attest using the online version of the forms. Please note that t he online Attestation Form must be completed in one session. Data cannot be entered and saved for completion at a later time.
Acute Care Hospitals  must both send  AND receive information over the Mass HIway to support a provider-to-provider communications use case and must submit a Year 3 Attestation Form.
Large and Medium Medical Ambulatory Practices  and Large CHCs must either send  OR  receive as part of a provider-to-provider communications use case and must submit a Year 2 Attestation Form.
Small CHCs  must use the Mass HIway to support a qualified use case (provider-to-provider communications, public health reporting, quality reporting, OR payer case management) and submit a Year 1 Attestation Form.
The following resources can help your organization implement a provider-to-provider communications use case with a trading partner and be prepared to meet this requirement going forward:
Events
20 Events Happening in Mass Digital Health
Check out the upcoming digital health events taking place this fall in Massachusetts.
MU Info Session
Register for our upcoming MU Information Session to learn more about Program Year 2019 and Stage 3 Meaningful Use (MU) . This interactive, all-day session is designed to explore topics such as health information exchan ge (HIE), clinical decision support (CDS), patient engagement, supporting documentation, and more. The session will be held at our Westborough location, and a light breakfast and lunch will be served.
Thursday, August 29
from 9:30am-3:00pm
Can't make the Info Session?
 View our recent MU webinars here .
Process Improvement Workshop
Join us for a free Process Improvement Workshop to improve Meaningful Use (MU), health information exchange (HIE), and other clinical care practices.
 
The workshop will provide you with broadly applicable tools to improve your MU and HIE practices and workflows. You'll engage in discussions to share your own experiences, team-building activities to get to know the other participants, and hands-on exercises to address process challenges of interest to the group.
 
The Process Improvement Workshop consists of two in-person sessions at MeHI's conference center in Westborough, MA. A light breakfast and lunch will be served. As the first session prepares you for the second, we advise you to attend both.
Friday, September 13
9:30am- 3:00pm
and
Friday, September 27
9:30am-3:00pm
Learning Collaborative on Query HIE
This fall, MeHI will host a Learning Collaborative focused on Query HIE, which uses the query-based exchange method to query (search) and retrieve patient information that was made accessible by other care providers. Query HIE is available from many EHR vendors, often in collaboration with the Commonwell and Carequality initiatives.

We are seeking participants from a variety of settings to offer their perspectives on Query HIE. We invite representatives from organizations that currently use Query HIE, and organizations that don’t use it yet, but are interested in learning more about it. 

The Learning Collaborative consists of two in-person sessions at our Westborough location. We will provide an overview of Query HIE and how it can be used, and discuss challenges related to issues like document types and patient consent.
Out of these discussions of real world issues, we plan to create several work products to help guide future discussions and decisions about Query HIE, such as workflow diagrams, FAQs, and/or best practices.

Interested in participating? R egister here and take our optional pre-workshop survey here .
Friday, October 4
9:30am-3:00pm
and
Friday, November 8
9:30am-3:00pm
Opportunities
Price is Your Right Design Challenge
Do you know any creative minds who can translate complex data into a user-friendly and easy-to-manage format?
 
This fall, MeHI is teaming up with the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA), the Donaghue Foundation, Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care Policy, and Freedman HealthCare to host the Price is Your Right design challenge. Using actual healthcare cost data from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, contestants will design a prototype for an interactive tool that guides patients in using this valuable information to select a medical provider.

Show us how you would help patients make better-informed decisions by designing a mobile app or website that presents cost data in an easy-to-use format. Registration closes October 5, 2019.