DARTNet Institute Informing Practice Improving Care
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Clinical Innovations > Practice Performance Registry > FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions Practice Performance Registry

I’m Attesting for Meaningful Use. Now what?

Are there other Specialized Registries out there?

Do we have a choice in what Public Health Options we choose?

I see that the AAFP has endorsed DARTNet's Registry, but my specialty is not Family Medicine. Can I submit Meaningful User information to a registry that doesn’t relate to my specialty?

What is the time requirement of my office to participate in the registry and what does implementation look like?

How do I get started?

I'm Attesting for Meaningful Use. Now what?

  • You will need to attest to 10 Modified Meaningful Use Objectives.
  • DARTNet provides an avenue for clients to participate in data submission to the Practice Performance Registry in order to meet the Specialized Registry option of the Meaningful Use Stage 2 Public Health Objective.


Are there other Specialized Registries out there?

Yes, and you are welcome to research other registries and their requirements. We recommend checking out the CMS website for the final rule and any additional documentation. CMS has left this measure a little more broad however, but if you’re aware of the requirements, you’ll make sure you’re meeting the measure.


Do we have a choice in what Public Health options we choose?

Yes. You will have to choose two out of three Public Health options:

  • Specialized Registry: DARTNet's Practice Performance Registry meets this measure.
  • Immunization Registry
  • Syndromic Surveillance


I see that the AAFP has endorsed DARTNet’s Registry, but my specialty is not Family Medicine. Can I submit Meaningful User information to a registry that doesn’t relate to my specialty?

Yes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have confirmed that they will recognize an EP who is submitting data from a Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) to a registry, regardless of the specialty. Clients who do not specialize in Family Practice can still submit information to the Practice Performance Registry to meet the Specialized Registry option of the Public Health Objective for Stage 2 Meaningful Use.

Data from non-primary care specialties will be included in the practice performance registry for data processing. However, reports specific to some non-primary specialties may not be initially available. The DARTNet Institute plans to grow their report availability within the registry and welcomes enhancement suggestions regarding measures that would assist their practices with quality improvement. Before a report may be developed, data from multiple clients of the same specialty must also be present in order for there to be a data comparison. For example: an infectious disease provider may submit data to the Practice Performance Registry. This would allow the provider to attest ‘yes’ for submitting data to a specialized registry. The provider may submit an enhancement to add a report allowing a specific infectious disease to be measured. Before the DARTNet Institute could develop and publish the report, data for comparative analysis must also exist. Once enough data from other infectious disease organizations/practices is received, the report would be considered for development and publication. 


What is the time requirement of my office to participate in the registry and what does implementation look like?

  • Once a client has purchased the registry, the time requirement for the organization is minimal for implementation. Depending on the agreement between your individual EHR company and DARTNet, a call may be scheduled with the client to discuss the implementation process.  This meeting will generally be held with IT and administrative persons within the client's practice. 
  • The organization is then asked to identify a resource to act as a super user. This resource will be responsible for identifying other users within the practice and establishing security for the user. DARTNet will provide individual one-on-one training with the super user on how to locate the reporting website and set up other users and assign security. The super user will also learn to provide password resets for users within the organization. Super user training is approximately one hour plus assistance as needed for larger organizations.
  • Any established user may attend a report training class. Classes are offered the second month of each quarter and are repeated at six different times to accommodate client work schedules. Report training is a many-to-one session and each session lasts one hour.  
  • Additionally, clients will name an attestation contact. This contact will be sent an attestation email which verifies that test data has been submitted to the DARTNet Institute Practice Performance for Quality Improvement specialty registry.  Once this email is received, a client may attest yes to the specialized registry stage 2 measure. 
  • Total time for implementation is two and a half hours or less.

How do I get started?

Organizations who are attesting for Stage 2 and are choosing the specialized registry for one of the Public Health options should complete their purchase prior to or within the first 60 days of their reporting period and provide test data prior to quarter end.

 

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