Six dialysis facilities using three EMR suppliers -- Health Informatics International, Clinical Computing and Satellite Health -- will submit patient specific clinical data to be inspected for quality by CMS at the conclusion of the pilot.
"This innovative pilot is very important to small and mid-sized dialysis providers, and our success with the HIE will have significant influence on how CMS pursues the national rollout of CROWNWeb," said Marc Chow, MS, NRAA executive director. "We're looking forward to working with CMS to help find a solution that assists providers in continuing to leverage health care technologies."
CROWNWeb, under way since 2008, is a CMS-mandated system for collecting data from Medicare-certified dialysis facilities. The system requires significant amounts of clinical information to be submitted including: patient admission and discharge histories; medication information;
Three of the largest organizations in the industry -- DaVita, Fresenius, and Dialysis Clinic Inc. -- are currently able to submit the data in batches via an electronic connection with CMS. Since there is not a similar option for small and medium sized facilities, NRAA and CMS began to explore using a Health Information Exchange to better automate the data collection for these groups.
When the NRAA HIE was developed, CMS decided to include this innovative submission method as part of its current Phase III national demonstration project.
The NRAA HIE securely collects the CROWNWeb data out of from the facilities' EMR and submits it through the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). This is one of the few times CMS has given a class of providers access through NwHIN.
"We are excited about this cost effective method of submitting data to CROWNWeb," said Chow. "We think the NRAA HIE will help many small dialysis centers to submit data more easily."
Contact
Marc Chow, MS
Executive Director
National Renal Administrators Association
(215) 564-3484 ext. 2294
mchow@nraa.org
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NRAA is a voluntary organization representing independent, regional and community-based dialysis providers throughout the United States. NRAA members are primarily small- and medium-sized dialysis organizations that serve thousands of patients in urban, rural and suburban areas in both freestanding and hospital-based facilities.
