New This Week on HealthIT.gov

In This Issue

• FDASIA Webinar
• Federal Advisory Committee Schedule
• Weigh in on Draft 2015 QRDA Implementation Guide
• Hardship Exception Applications Due July 1
• Health Informatics for Public Health Officials
• Training for CHCs and Rural Clinics

Here in DC the August monsoon season has arrived, and it's only June. Hope you are staying safe and dry as we head down the path to interoperability.
 

FDASIA Webinar

On Friday, June 20th at 3pm EDT, ONC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Federal Communications Commission will be hosting a Webinar to listen to your feedback on the recently released draft FDA Safety and Innovation Act (FDAISA) report. The public comment period for the draft report ends on July 7, 2014. You can register for the FDASIA webinar now.
 

Federal Advisory Committee Schedule Week of June 16

• Tuesday
  The Health IT Standards Committee meets Tuesday at 9am (all times EDT). The agenda, meeting materials and dial-in information will be posted on the meeting page as soon as it all becomes available.

• Wednesday
  The JASON Task Force meets Wednesday at 9am. Select this link for agenda, meeting materials and dial-in information. 
  
  The Health IT Policy Committee (HITPC) Certification/Adoption Workgroup meets at 2:30pm. Meeting documents will be posted by the workgroup when they are available.

• Thursday
  The Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN) Power Team meeting commences at 3:30pm. Meeting documents will be posted when they are ready.

• Friday
  The HITPC Meaningful Use Workgroup has scheduled a meeting for 10am. Select this link for meeting documents. 
  
  The Certification Adoption Health IT Workforce Subgroup plans to meet at 1pm.Meeting materials will be posted when they are ready.
   

Weigh in on the Draft 2015 QRDA Implementation Guide

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted a draft combined QRDA implementation guide for eligible professionals and eligible hospitals to use for 2015 clinical quality measures (CQMs). For those of you who might not know, QRDA is the Health Level Seven International (HL7) Quality Reporting Document Architecture that is a standard document format for the exchange of eCQMs. CMS is accepting feedback from the health-care industry on the draft guide until June 27, 2014.

The draft 2015 implementation guide includes information for both eligible hospitals and eligible professionals, and CMS encourages vendors, providers, and others in the health care industry to submit comments on this new format, as well as other aspects of the guide, including: 2015 QRDA submission methods, addition of the Program Name requirement, location of the CMS Certification Number (CCN) and handling of the Tax Identification Number (TIN) and National Provider Identification (NPI).

Commenters may also submit feedback on the overall usefulness of the guide and areas that need improvement.
 

Hardship exception applications due July 1

CMS is accepting applications for hardship exceptions to avoid the upcoming Medicare payment adjustment for the 2015 reporting year until July 1.

Payment adjustments for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program will begin on January 1, 2015 for eligible professionals.

You can avoid the adjustment by completing a hardship exception application and providing supporting documentation that proves demonstrating meaningful use would be a significant hardship for you. CMS will review applications to determine whether or not the hardship exception will be granted.

Find hardship exception applications on the Medicare EHR Incentive Program website for:

• Eligible professionals
• Eligible professionals submitting multiple National Provider Identifiers (NPIs)

If approved, the exception is valid for one year.

Health Informatics Fundamental for Public Health Staff Online Training

On HealthIT.gov you can learn about a 10-week, 40-hour course that has been developed to enhance fundamental skills in informatics. Specifically, this online training is tailored for public health professionals and informaticians who are interested in receiving and integrating data from clinical information systems for use in public health settings. This course introduces participants to terminology, technology, data standards, messaging standards, and technology and workflow issues in both clinical and public health settings. 

Health IT Fundamentals for Rural Clinics and Community Health Centers

Are you a healthcare professional interested in learning more about health information technology? Are you an active participant in helping your health care facility achieve meaningful use? Fine-tune your skills and help to advance health IT in your office, practice, or facility with an 8-week, 40-hour health IT training program. This online training course is designed to hone the skills and knowledge needed to advance health IT initiatives and meet meaningful use criteria.