Stage 1 Meaningful Use - Detailed Public Health Objectives

There are three public health menu set objectives for Meaningful Use Stage 1: Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR), syndromic surveillance reporting, and immunization registry reporting. To successfully attest to the public health reporting requirements for Meaningful Use State 1, EPs, EHs and CAHs must demonstrate one of the three public health objectives by submitting at least one test submission of data.

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has development technical guidelines, use cases, data transport protocols, and approval criteria for each of the Meaningful Use public health Objectives. IDPH will evaluation each EP’s and Hospital’s data submissions to determine if the EP or Hospital has successfully completed the attestation process.

Eligible Professionals: Perform at least 1 test of the certified EHR technology’s capacity to submit electronic data to I-CARE with continued submission if successful.

Eligible Hospitals & Critical Access Hospitals: Perform at least 1 test of the certified EHR technology’s capacity to submit electronic data to I-CARE with continued submission if successful.

Illinois Immunization Use Case: Click Here

Step 1: Register to submit data to IDPH for Meaningful Use

Step 2: Register with I-CARE using the IDPH registration site

Step 3: Sign required legal agreements

• Data Use Agreements with IDPH for I-CARE
  • Individual Use Agreement
  • Provider User Agreement
• ILHIE Public Health Data Conduit Agreement, in addition to Data Use Agreements with IDPH for I-CARE
• Note: Hospitals and EPs connected to a Regional HIE supporting public health reporting via the ILHIE are not required to execute a separate Public Health Conduit Agreement.

Step 4: Establish a connection for data exchange (one option required):

• HL7 2.3.1 or 2.5.1 message from an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ATCBs) certified system to I-CARE (preferred format)
• Alternative file requiring transformation sent to the Public Health Node (See above Table for information on alternative file formats.)
• Connectivity through Regional Health Information Exchange connected to the ILHIE and supporting public health reporting for Meaningful Use.
• Note: Facilities that send data in the preferred HL7 format are prioritized. Facilities that are unable to send data in the preferred format please email the ILHIE here.

Step 5: Submission of Test Message

• Review test message data content
• Validate data with I-CARE’s (Public Health Node) HL7 parser
• Email EP or hospital of successful MU test completion
• Test data in I-CARE (Public Health Node) Test environment
• Test data in I-CARE (Public Health Node) Development environment
• Note: For practices (one legal entity) with multiple providers using the same EHR, only one test of submission for each certified EHR system is required (see example here), see example here.

Step 6: Validation of Data Content

• Test and validate the data in I-CARE (Public Health Node) Production environment

Applicable Exclusion Criteria: An EP, EH or CAH that administers no immunizations during the EHR reporting period.

Eligible Professionals: Not a Meaningful Use option for EPs

Eligible Hospitals & Critical Access Hospitals: Perform at least 1 test of the certified EHR technology’s capacity to submit electronic reportable laboratory results to I-NEDSS with continued submission if successful. Hospitals not currently submitting data to IDPH should route that data through the ILHIE, which will send it on to the Public Health Node for Meaningful Use reporting and submission to I-NEDSS

Illinois Electronic Laboratory Reporting Use Case v1.1: Click Here

Step 1: Register to submit data to

IDPH for Meaningful Use

Step 2: Sign required legal agreements:

• ILHIE Public Health Data Conduit Agreement
• Note: Hospitals and EPs connected to a Regional HIE supporting public health reporting via the ILHIE are not required to execute a separate Public Health Conduit Agreement.

Step 3: Establish a Connection for Data Exchange (one option required):

• HL7 2.5.1 message from an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ATCBs) certified system to I-NEDSS (preferred format)
• Connectivity through Regional Health Information Exchange connected to the ILHIE and supporting public health reporting for Meaningful Use.
• Note: Facilities that send data in the preferred HL7 format are prioritized. Facilities that are unable to send data in the preferred format please email the ILHIE here.

Step 4: Submission of Test Message

• Review and validate hospital codes and data content
• Email hospital of successful Meaningful Use test completion
• Test data in Public Health Node/I-NEDSS Development environment
• Test data in Public Health Node/I-NEDSS Test environment
• Note: For practices (one legal entity) with multiple providers using the same EHR, only one test of submission for each certified EHR system is required (see example here).

Step 5: Validation of Data Content

• Validation of data in Public Health Node/I-NEDSS Production environment

Eligible Professionals: Not a Stage 1 Meaningful Use option for EPs

Eligible Hospitals & Critical Access Hospitals: Perform at least 1 test of the certified EHR technology’s capacity to provide electronic syndromic surveillance data to the Public Health Node with continued submission if successful. Hospitals submitting data to IDPH should route that data through the ILHIE, which will send it on to the Public Health Node for Meaningful Use reporting and submission to BioSense.

Public Health Memo RE: New Syndromic Surveillance Reporting Requirements as of March 21, 2013: Click Here

Note: Hospitals in northeastern Illinois participating in the ESSENCE syndromic surveillance system will be provided with an option to fulfill Meaningful Use requirements by having their syndromic surveillance data routed from ESSENCE to BioSense, provided the necessary agreements are signed. Hospitals participating in the Gateway ESSENCE syndromic surveillance system will also need to send syndromic surveillance data to the Public Health Node, in order to fulfill IDPH reporting requirements.

Step 1: Register to submit data to

IDPH for Meaningful Use

Step 2: Sign required legal agreements:

• ILHIE Public Health Data Conduit Agreement
• Note: Hospitals and EPs connected to a Regional HIE supporting public health reporting via the ILHIE are not required to execute a separate Public Health Conduit Agreement.

Step 3: Establish a Connection for Data Exchange (one option required):

• HL7 2.3.1 or 2.5.1 message from an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ATCBs) certified system to the Public Health Node (preferred format)
• Alternative file requiring transformation sent to the Public Health Node (See above Table for information on alternative file formats.)
• Connectivity through Regional Health Information Exchange connected to the ILHIE and supporting public health reporting for Meaningful Use.
• Note: Facilities that send data in the preferred HL7 format are prioritized. Facilities that are unable to send data in the preferred format please email the ILHIE here.

Step 4: Submission of Test Message

• Transformation of file into standard HL7 message format (if required)
• Email hospital of successful of Meaningful Use test completion
• Successful receipt and processing of file by the Public Health Node and BioSense
• Note: For practices (one legal entity) with multiple providers using the same EHR, only one test of submission for each certified EHR system is required (see example here).

Step 5: Validation of Data Content

• Verification that all required data elements are sent