To improve their transitions of care, Floating Hospital at Tufts Medical Center developed a new workflow with Lowell General Hospital’s Maternal Medicine Department, incorporating health information exchange (HIE) through Direct Messaging.

If there are any concerns during a labor and delivery at Lowell General Hospital, the providers send a Fetal Link Report to Tufts via Direct Message. The message is then forwarded as an encrypted email to Floating Hospital’s Labor and Delivery team to determine whether the mother needs to be transferred for more intensive care. This new workflow has significantly improved the speed and clarity of information exchange between Tufts and Lowell General Hospital, offering better continuity and coordination of care during labor and delivery emergencies.

As part of the 2020 MassChallenge HealthTech program, MeHI is proud to partner with the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind and the innovative startup NuEyes, a leader in augmented reality (AR) smart glasses that empower people with severe vision loss, on a new pilot study. During the project, focus groups made up of visually impaired Massachusetts citizens will test NuEyes’ head-worn devices, focusing on daily tasks, mobility issues, connectivity issues, and how well the products affect their visual acuity. 

The deadline for Program Year 2019 is August 31, 2020. The following tools

You can find all of these resources and more in our MU Toolkit. As always, our Technical Assistance Team is available

to help with questions.

MAPIR will open for Program Year 2020 applications on October 1, 2020. The following PY2020 resources are now available:

The timeline for PY2020 is different than previous program years. For more information, click here to view the recording of our recent webinar on the timelines for PY2020 and PY2021.

Join us for a webinar on the requirements of Objective 5, with a focus on Measure 1 and the Application Programming Interface (API) requirement. The webinar explores how to demonstrate that you met the requirement and gives examples of supporting documentation.

To learn more, register for the upcoming September session or view the recording from our August session.

For PY2020, we recommend ensuring that your API is enabled no later than October 1, 2020. If you have not yet enabled your API, please contact our Technical Assistance team at massehr@masstech.org.

For the purposes of the EHR Incentive Program, the CMS definition of an office visit includes telehealth encounters. You must include billable telehealth encounters in your patient volume threshold (PVT) calculation and your Meaningful Use (MU) objectives.

Keep in mind that you will only get credit in your MU dashboard numerators if you appropriately document activities related to your telehealth encounters in your certified EHR technology (CEHRT). We recommend talking to your EHR vendor to determine what additional steps, if any, you need to take to ensure that your telehealth encounters are being counted toward your MU objectives. For more information, review our telehealth guidelines.

The Blueprint Security Risk Analysis (SRA) Tool, known as the BP:Secure portal, will be decommissioned on September 17th, 2020. After that date, the portal will no longer be available to providers.

If you currently have an active subscription to the portal and wish to conduct your 2020 Security Risk Analysis/Security Risk Review (SRA/SRR) using BP:Secure, you will need to complete and download your SRA/SRR before September 17th, 2020. Only current active licensed users can perform a new SRA/SRR for Program Year 2020.

If you have used the BP:Secure portal to conduct your SRA/SRR in the past, we advise you to log in to your original Blueprint account before September 17th, 2020 to retrieve your reports from previous years.

If you have questions or need assistance with performing your SRA/SRR for PY2020, please contact our Technical Assistance team at massehr@masstech.org. 

From October 2-4, as part of their Hacking Medicine initiative, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will host a virtual Grand Hack event. The event is an opportunity for engineers, clinicians, developers and others to build innovative healthcare solutions. Participants of any background with a passion for healthcare are welcome. Learn more about the event or apply to be a participant or mentor here. The deadline to apply is September 11, 2020.

The 2020 Mass HIway online Attestation Forms and Exception Form are now available. Provider Organizations must attest using the online version of the forms. PDF forms will not be accepted. Please click below to access the forms and detailed information and instructions.

The attestation window runs from August 1 - December 31, 2020. All organizations that had to meet the Connection Requirement by January 1, 2020 must submit an attestation to the Mass HIway by December 31, 2020. If an organization was unable to meet the Connection Requirement, it must complete an Exception Form for review and consideration by the Mass HIway.

For more information, see the Mass HIway Regulations FAQs. You can also find detailed information about the Regulations, including educational presentations, here. You can also submit questions to the Mass HIway at MassHIway@state.ma.us.