Telehealth Resources: Data and Reporting

E-Consult Trends Across Medicaid Programs and Impact on FQHCs (2024). Resource Type: Publication. Description: NACHC and the Center for Connected Health Policy examine the current state of eConsult Medicaid policies in relation to FQHCs. This paper looks at a sampling of states to examine trends in eConsult policies that allow, exclude or do not specify the policy specific to FQHCs, resulting in reimbursement and telehealth operational implications for health center. More Details...

Navigating Compliance Challenges with the Information Blocking Rule: A Collection of Case Studies: HITEQ Center and Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP, September 2023 (2023). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) 21st Century Cures Act Information Blocking Rule (Info Blocking Rule) prohibits covered actors – including health care providers, health IT developers of certified health IT, and health information exchanges/health information networks– from engaging in practices likely to interfere with, prevent, or materially discourage access, exchange, or use of electronic health information (EHI). The Info Blocking Rule includes eight exceptions that provide actors with certainty that, when their practice interferes with the access, exchange, or use of EHI and meets the conditions of one or more exception, such practice will not be considered information blocking.1 More Details...

Sensitive Information and the Electronic Patient Record: HITEQ Center, June 2023 (2023). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: With nearly 100% of community health centers utilizing electronic health records (EHR) to care for patients, focus has pivoted from implementation and new workflow development to enhancement in order to drive value and reflect patient needs and population trends. EHR technology presents potential opportunities and significant constraints. Providers frequently document and share potentially sensitive information in the EHR, such as risk for intimate partner violence (IPV), consistent offers of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), or patient sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). More Details...

Interoperability Readiness Scorecard: HITEQ Center, July 2023 (2023). Resource Type: Template. Description: Many health centers struggle to reap the benefits of technological advancement and investments in health information technology (health IT), while others embrace them and reap rewards. Interoperability is one such example; requiring health centers assess systems, relationships, and implementation. There are keys to successful interoperability implementation for which health centers must develop processes, stand up infrastructure (within the system, internally and externally, and organization), and then take action. Process refers to structured processes, policies, and procedures within the health center. Infrastructure refers to structural capacity and ability within the health center’s technology and staffing structure. Action refers to full implementation to the point of active and ongoing use and engagement. This scorecard encourages health centers to consider their processes, infrastructure, and action in a number of key areas. Each area key to interoperability are to be self-graded on a scale of 1 through 5, where 1 is poorly or not yet developed and 5 is well developed. Health centers can also use this to guide discussions and monitor progress over time. evaluate once steps have been completed. More Details...

Assessing Provider Capabilities, Attitudes, and Preferences about Telehealth: HITEQ Center Question Bank, April 2023 (2023). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: As health centers are charting their path forward with telehealth after the public health emergency ends, it will be critical to have methods in place to comprehensively assess the current experiences, capabilities, attitudes, and preferences of providers. Telehealth program improvements should be grounded in a real understanding of these factors to ensure readiness of all providers. More Details...

The Managed Care Data Set - Video: Developed with Starling Advisors in 2022 (2023). Resource Type: E-Learning. Description: This is the second in a three module value based care basics series from the HITEQ Center. This module was developed by Starling Advisors in 2022. More Details...

Clinical Quality Measures for Eligible Professionals: 2023 Update: A crosswalk of Clinical Quality Measures for UDS and other reporting from The HITEQ Center (2023). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: This spreadsheet developed by the HITEQ Center provides a crosswalk of Clinical Quality Measures and their electronic specifications as defined in the 2023 update for Eligible Professionals (Clinicians). Fields include the crosswalk of measures with related information about CMS, NQF, and MIPS ID, and Telehealth Eligiblity, as well as inclusion in HRSA BPHC Uniform Data System (UDS) CY2023, Million Hearts, CMS Quality Payment Program (QPP) - APM Performance Pathway (APP) Measures, Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP)/ CMS ACO Shared Savings Program, CMS Core Set (Child Core Set Medicaid / CHIP): HEDIS Specified, CMS Core Set (Adult Core Set Medicaid): HEDIS Specified, Core Quality Measures Collaborative (ACO / Primary Care). Links are included throughout. More Details...

Health Center Environmental Scan Kickoff Webinar (2022). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: Throughout the public health emergency, health centers have adapted and evolved to serve their communities amid a confluence of factors. As such, it is becoming crucially important to understand the different strategies and partnerships that have emerged from this crisis. Health centers have an important and essential role in addressing the health-harming social and legal needs of their patients. The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership (NCMLP) is conducting an environmental scan of health centers with the main goal of establishing, expanding, and sustaining the accessibility and availability of medical-legal partnerships to meet the evolving social needs of patient populations. On September 29, NCMLP staff gave an overview of the data we have so far, why it's so important to complete the scan, and how to actually participate. More Details...

Telehealth Taxonomy For FQHC Data Capture (2020). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This guidance document for FQHCs was developed by a Project Team* that included representation by TRCs, NACHC, PCAs and HCCNs. These are what the Project Team considers the “minimum data set” that each individual FQHC should be able to capture with confidence within their data systems. These core data elements were selected within the context of: Potential for impact on quality metrics and reporting, as well as potential for impact on FQHC telehealth reimbursement policies. More Details...

HITEQ Highlights: Deploying Smartphone Apps to Advance Mental Health in Primary Care: HITEQ Highlights Webinar (2022). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: Patient engagement through electronic health apps are one solution to the need for timely and ongoing patient support. This session discussed a program to support mental health through an integrated behavioral health model using a mental health app at Cambridge Health Alliance. More Details...

Clinical Quality Measures for Eligible Professionals: 2022 Update (2022). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This spreadsheet developed by the HITEQ Center provides a crosswalk of Clinical Quality Measures and their electronic specifications as defined in the 2022 update for Eligible Professionals (Clinicians). More Details...

HITEQ Electronic Patient Engagement Tool Selection Rubric (2021). Resource Type: Other. Description: This Excel-based scoring rubric is intended to be used by health centers to assess electronic patient engagement tools (like automated outreach SMS platforms) to determine which tool is most likely to meet the health center\'s needs. The tool assists health centers in assessing the following areas: Patient communication features Operations features Health IT Integration Attribution and value based care features Patient generated data/ remote patient monitoring features Administration It provides guidance for weighting and scoring and provides calculated final scores for up to 5 tools. Download the Excel-based tool below. More Details...

Analysis of UDS Clinical Quality Measure Performance by Health Center Telehealth Use (2020). Resource Type: Publication. Description: The below analysis is based on Uniform Data System (UDS) reported by health centers (both 330 funded and Look Alikes). Performance on Clinical Quality Measures is derived from Tables 6B and 7 (with the exception of the Prenatal measure, which is not included). Telehealth Use is from Question 2 of the UDS’s Other Data Elements form, which asks Did your organization use telehealth in order to provide remote clinical care services [in referenc year]? Yes or No. More Details...

Analysis of UDS Clinical Quality Measure Performance by Health Center Telehealth Use: Updated in Sept. 2020 with CY2019 UDS Data (2020). Resource Type: Publication. Description: A brief study of how health centers who report using telehealth compare to those who do not, using data reported on 2017 UDS. This analysis suggests that the average performance on each clinical quality measure is higher among those health centers who report using telehealth than those who do not use telehealth.  The below analysis is based on 2017 Uniform Data System USD reported by health centers both 330 funded and Look Alikes.  Performance on Clinical Quality Measures is derived from Tables 6B and 7 with the exception of the Prenatal and Birthweight measures. Telehealth Use is from Question 2 of the UDS’s Other Data Elements form, which asks Did your organization use telehealth in order to provide remote clinical care services [in 2017]? Yes or No.  Considerations 1. Names used for the quality measures shown here are colloquial, and do not reflect exact names used in the 2017 UDS Manual. 2. Measures are shown in alphabetical order, not in the same order as the UDS Manual. 3. The Diabetes measure is calculated as Controlled, as opposed to Uncontrolled, as is reported in the UDS. This was done for comparison purposes, so all measures are ‘better’ if higher. Observations Health centers that report using Telehealth, on average, report slightly higher performance on all clinical quality measures than those that report that they do not use telehealth. On average, across all measures, using telehealth is correlated with a 1.18% percentage point higher performance rate per clinical quality measure. A chart showing all measures side-by-side can be seen below. Download the full analysis document at the bottom of the page for details about each measure.   More Details...