On July 28, 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released their final rule for the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program as a complement to the final rule on standards and certification released by the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). (The final rule can be accessed at Part III - Federal Register 80.200.pdf.)
As part of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or the "HITECH Act," these final rules provide authority to establish programs to improve health care quality, safety, and efficiency of patient care through the promotion and meaningful use of health information technology (HIT), including qualified electronic health records (EHRs) and private and secure electronic health information exchange.
Through the CMS EHR incentive program eligible providers and hospitals can receive incentive payments once they have shown that they are able to implement certified EHR technology and/or have demonstrated "meaningful use." Included in the strategies for demonstrating "meaningful use" of the EHR systems are four objectives related to public health: submission of immunization registry data, submission of syndromic surveillance data, submission of reportable laboratory reports, and submission of electronic case reports.
Indiana Department of Health has begun accepting electronic case reports (eCR) in accordance with the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program (formerly Meaningful Use). IDOH declared readiness in September 2021 to begin receiving eCRs and is currently consuming eCRs for COVID-19 only but are ready to onboard non-COVID conditions as well. All eligible hospitals, providers, professionals, etc. who treat or diagnose COVID-19 can now submit eCRs to IDOH.
Please note that providers are still required to send Indiana’s reportable conditions per Communicable Disease Reporting Rule found at Indiana's communicable disease reporting rule. Also, submitting electronic case reports is not a replacement or a substitute for reporting communicable diseases and electronic lab reporting (ELR).
Facilities intending to send eCR messages to IDOH should adhere to this standard – HL7 CDA® R2 Implementation Guide: Public Health Case Report, Release 2 – U.S. Realm – the Electronic Initial Case Report (eICR).
IDOH is in the process of opening a registration portal soon for online submissions. In the meantime, to proceed with eCR onboarding, please send an email to the eCR mailbox – eCRs@health.in.gov. To be fully registered, the email should contain the following information:
- Organization name
- Organization address
- Diseases organization would like to onboard
- Primary business contact information (phone and email)
- Primary technical contact information (phone and email)
- Estimated volume of eCRs per month
- Electronic vendor name, software, and version of the product
For questions regarding eCR reporting, please refer to the websites below:
More Information
Please visit eportal.isdh.in.gov/MeaningfulUse/ for Indiana State guidance on achieving Meaningful Use Public Health Objectives
For more information on achieving Public Health Meaningful Use you can contact:
Raymond T. Epps
IDOH Chirp/Immunizations
(888)227-4439
REpps@health.IN.gov
Team Inbox
Syndromic Surveillance & Electronic Lab Reporting
idohelrss@health.in.gov
Sneha Hebbar
Cancer Registry
(317)234-2561
shebbar@health.in.gov
Team Inbox
Electronic Case Reporting (eCR)
eCRs@health.in.gov
