The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has renamed the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs (formerly Meaningful Use) to the Promoting Interoperability (PI) Programs.
Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is currently able to receive electronic submissions for six public health-related measures (Antimicrobial Use and Resistance (AUR), Cancer Reporting, Electronic Case Reporting (eCR), Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR), Immunizations, and Syndromic Surveillance) and is actively working with eligible hospitals (EH), critical access hospitals (CAH), and eligible professionals (EP) to assist them in meeting these measures. This webpage serves as the VDH Declaration of Readiness for Promoting Interoperability/Meaningful Use requirements beginning January 1st, 2018.
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) provides financial incentives to encourage the use of electronic health records. CMS implemented incentive programs (i.e. Promoting Interoperability (PI), Meaningful Use (MU), Merit-based Incentive Payments System (MIPS), Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS)) for eligible health care professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals to adopt, implement or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology.
Note: The use of the term “Meaningful Use” on VDH websites refers to the exchange of public health messaging with VDH for all CMS EHR Incentive Programs such as Promoting Interoperability, Meaningful Use, MIPS, or OPPS.
Please print and retain a copy of this webpage to document the status of services provided by VDH to support Meaningful Use.
Register with VDH
All eligible hospitals and eligible professionals intending to work on any of the public health measures (with the exception of AUR) must register with VDH each attestation year in order to receive acknowledgments for Meaningful Use, including those already submitting Meaningful Use data to VDH. For information about AUR registration, click here.
Summary of Public Health Measures accepted by VDH
The table below summarizes the Public Health Reporting Measures accepted by the Virginia Department of Health for each provider type.
Promoting Interoperability (2018 to present)
| Public Health Measure | Eligible Professionals (EP) | Eligible Hospitals (EH) |
| Immunization Registry | ✓ | ✓ |
| Syndromic Surveillance | ✓ (Urgent Care Setting only) |
✓ |
| Electronic Reportable Laboratory Results | X | ✓ |
| Public Health Registry – Cancer Registry – Antimicrobial Use and Resistance |
✓ X |
X ✓ |
| Electronic Case Reporting (eCR) | ✓ | ✓ |
Meaningful Use Modified Stage 2 (2015-2017)
| Public Health Measure | Eligible Professionals (EP) | Eligible Hospitals (EH) |
| Immunization Registry | ✓ | ✓ |
| Syndromic Surveillance | ✓ | ✓ |
| Specialized Registry – Cancer Registry – Electronic Case Reporting (Pilot) |
✓ ✓ |
X ✓ |
| Electronic Reportable Laboratory Results | X | ✓ |
✓= public health measure supported
X = public health measure not supported
Virginia Health Information (VHI)
Virginia Health Information (VHI), formerly ConnectVirginia HIE, provides services that allow healthcare providers to send and receive health information electronically and offers a convenient way to transmit Promoting Interoperability (formerly Meaningful Use) messages to VDH.
CMS Electronic Health Record Incentive Program
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides detailed information on the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program requirements, as well as helpful answers to frequently asked questions, on their web page at http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/.
Both Medicare and Medicaid offer financial incentives to providers and hospitals that implement or enhance EHR systems and meet criteria to demonstrate their meaningful use. Specific requirements and timeframes are provided in the regulations. Implementation and effective use of Certified EHR technology is a step toward reforming the health care system and improving health care quality, efficiency, and patient safety.
Virginia Medicaid Provider Incentive Program
The Medicaid Provider Incentive Program in Virginia is administered by the Department of Medical Assistance Services. Information is available on the Incentive Program website: http://dmasva.dmas.virginia.gov/Content_pgs/pr-arra.aspx.
Page last modified: 11/30/2022 1:00PM