The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administers federal incentive programs for eligible hospitals (EHs), critical access hospitals (CAHs), eligible providers (EPs), and eligible clinicians (ECs) that have adopted and use certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT). The transmission of syndromic surveillance messages from health care providers to a public health agency using CEHRT is one of the measures available to incentive program participants. Due to changes in national standards that are part of these incentive programs, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has expanded the fields of data collected since establishing a Syndromic Surveillance program in 2003. These changes have improved the data that public health agencies in Ohio use for detecting, tracking and characterizing health events.
The technical specifications included in this version 2.0 document (released May 22, 2018) have been informed by the following federal Final Rules:
- Medicare Program; Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Incentive Under the Physician Fee Schedule, and Criteria for Physician-Focused Payment Models
- Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program-Stage 3 and Modifications to Meaningful Use in 2015 Through 2017
- 2015 Edition Health Information Technology (Health IT) Certification Criteria, 2015 Edition Base Electronic Health Record (EHR) Definition, and ONC Health IT Certification Program Modifications
Ohio’s technical specifications are also consistent with the following Public Health Information Network (PHIN) messaging guides for syndromic surveillance:
- PHIN Messaging Guide for Syndromic Surveillance: Emergency Department, Urgent Care, Inpatient and Ambulatory Care Settings, Release 2.0 (April, 2015)
- Erratum to the PHIN Messaging Guide for Syndromic Surveillance: Emergency Department, Urgent Care, Inpatient and Ambulatory Care Settings ADT Messages A01, A03, A04 and A08 Optional ORU^R01 Message Notation for Laboratory Data HL7 Version 2.5.1 (Version 2.3.1 Compatible) Release 2.0 April 21, 2015
or outlined in the Health Level Seven (HL7) messaging standards 2.5.1 (creation of an account is necessary to download).
Information about state-specific eligibility requirements can be found on the ODH’s Syndromic Surveillance policy webpage: https://www.odh.ohio.gov/healthstats/HIT/Sys.aspx.