Secure Messaging

Click the following dropdowns to see what's changed for this measure.

Important Note About Patient Portals

This documentation includes workflow information for sites using the Greenway Patient Portal. Sites using the Medfusion patient portal should read the following topic: Medfusion Portal Notes. Refer to the help documentation provided by Medfusion for any other Medfusion-related workflows.

Measure Overview

This measure reports the percentage of patients whose provider sent them at least one secure electronic message during the numerator period. This message must have been about the patient’s clinical health information. It can be a reply to a secure message sent from the patient, as long as the original message was about the patient’s clinical health information. Patients of any age may be counted in this measure.

Measure Overview
Denominator	The number of unique patients who had at least one non-voided face-to-face visit with an eligible provider or clinician checked-in during the measurement period.
Numerator	The number of patients who are registered for the patient portal that were sent a secure message or a response to a secure message.
Medicaid Goal	Must Exceed 5%

See the following sections for more information on the Secure Messaging measure:

• Denominator Criteria
• Numerator Criteria
• Setup Requirements
• Secure Messaging Workflows

Denominator Criteria

Patients are counted in the denominator if they had at least one non-voided face-to-face visit during the measurement period set in Prime Suite Reporting 2020. This visit must be with an eligible provider and checked-in during the measurement period.

Numerator Criteria

Patients who qualified for the denominator count in the numerator if their provider sent them or the authorized patient representative at least one secure electronic message during the calendar year. This message must be in regard to the patient’s clinical health information. Qualifying messages can be a response to a secure message sent by a patient if the patient’s message was related to the patient’s clinical health information. Patients must be registered for the patient portal to send and receive secure messages.

Prime Mobile cannot be used to qualify a patient for the Medicaid PI: Secure Messaging numerator since sending a new patient portal message or replying to a message sent by the patient to the Greenway Patient Portal (GPP) can not be done through Prime Mobile at this time.

The criteria for the numerator must be met during the calendar year that the measurement period begins in. For example, if the measurement period begins on 3/3/2020, the numerator must be met during the period that begins on January 1, 2020 and ends on December 31, 2020.

A response to a secure message only qualifies if the patient's message to the practice is about the patient's clinical health information. On Greenway Patient, the following message types can qualify: Ask a medical question and Ask a general question. Greenway Patient v4.6 gives you the ability to remove message types. If you remove both of these message types, providers will not be able to qualify for the numerator by responding to a secure message sent by a patient.

Setup Requirements

To meet this measure, you must have purchased and implemented the Greenway Patient Portal. If you do not currently have patient portal functionality, contact your sales representative.

Secure Messaging Workflows

The Prime Suite workflows related to this measure include:

• Sending a Secure Message to a Patient
• Replying to a Secure Message from a Patient

Sending a Secure Message to a Patient

1.

From the Actions menu, select Open Task List.

2.

Select Add New Task from the Actions menu in the My Tasks window.

3.

Ensure the following fields are set:

• Type: Select Secure Communication.

Only the Secure Communication task type will qualify.

• Provider: Select a provider that has a visit with the patient.
• Location: Optionally, select a location.
• Send To: Select the person to send the task to.

You can quickly send and assign the task to yourself by selecting the Assign to Me link. This link enters yourself in the Send To and Assign To fields automatically.

• Assign To: Optionally, select the user to be assigned the task.
• Select Patient: Select the patient to be associated with the task. The patient must be registered for the patient portal your practice has implemented.
• Status: Set the status to New.
• Priority: Set the priority to either Low, Medium, or High as needed.
• Follow-Up: Optionally, select the Follow-Up check box.
• Add to Facesheet: Optionally, select the Add to Facesheet check box.
• Due Date: Enter the task's due date.

4.

Save the Task.

5.

Select Send Patient Message from the Actions menu. The Second Patient Message dialog box opens.

6.

Complete the Subject and Content fields.

7.

Select Send.

Replying to a Secure Message from a Patient

1.

Select Open Task List on the patient's Facesheet.

2.

Select the message sent from the patient.

3.

Select Reply to Patient.

4.

Enter your reply.

5.

Select Send.

If the patient’s message to the practice isn’t about the patient’s clinical health information, the provider’s reply will not qualify. On the Greenway Patient Portal, the following task types can qualify: Ask a medical question and Ask a general question.