As you navigate the maze of new stage 2 meaningful use requirements, the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) practice management staff thought it would be helpful to highlight some FAQs to help you through the process. You can access more information on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) webpage on Stage 2  and/or contact Terri Gonzalez, NCMS Foundation’s Director of Practice Improvement at 919-833-3836 x123.

Question: When meeting the meaningful use measure for “secure messaging” in the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs, which requires that more than 5 percent of unique patients send a secure message using the electronic messaging function of Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT), is it required that the patient only use an interface that is certified or can any secure message received into the eligible professional’s CEHRT count for this measure?

Answer: As part of this objective, the eligible professional (EP) must make available to patients a secure messaging option certified to the 2014 edition certification criteria. However, this option is not the only way that a patient can send a secure message to an EP. Any secure message that is received using the electronic messaging function of the EP’s CEHRT counts toward the measure regardless of whether the interface the patient used to create the message was specific to the EP’s CEHRT.