ONC Data Indicates More Hospitals Reporting Public Health Data Electronically

Updated statistics from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), which it published on its Health IT Dashboard, indicates that more hospitals are able to report public health data, like immunizations, laboratory results, and syndromic surveillance, electronically to local public health agencies.

In 2015, 4,043 eligible and Critical Access hospitals (EH) reported to the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. Ninety percent of hospitals attested to stage 2 of meaningful use

In 2015, 93 percent of all hospitals reported active engagement with an immunization registry, 88 percent reported electronic reportable laboratory results data, and 76 percent reported syndromic surveillance data to a public health agency, according to ONC data. Less than 5 percent of hospitals reported active engagement with a specialized registry - a new public health reporting measure in 2015.

In 2015, eligible hospitals attesting to stage 2 of meaningful use were required to report active engagement or claim a permitted exclusion for three of the public health reporting measures; modified stage 2 required eligible hospitals to report active engagement or claim a permitted exclusion for two of the four measures.