CMS has made changes to how Evaluation and Management Codes will be calculated beginning Jan 1, 2021. E/M codes will now have the option to ignore History (HPI, ROS, History) and Exam as part of the visit calculation. This shift allows providers to focus more on pertinent clinical documentation and less on data entry. In place of the data requirements from the past, E/M 2021 focusses on Medical Decision Making and Time Spent. This means there are no changes required for templates in 2021 E/M coding.

Criterions EHR will be Updated to Accommodate E/M 2021 Changes

For 2021, the Criterions EHR is updating the Medical Decision Making calculation to the 2021 standard as well as providing options to select how much time was spent during the visit. The E/M page for Medicare patients will be redesigned to allow providers to use the various methods of calculation.

Enabling these options will be available in the Practice Defaults, allowing for activating the 2021 E/M calculation for Medicare only, or switch to all carriers as others accept the changing rules.

More information regarding E/M 2021 can be found from CMS here.

As part of our goal to provide a trusted and secure platform for our customers, we are implementing a change in security requirements for using Criterions EHR effective August 1, 2020.

We are planning to deprecate vulnerable data encryption protocols (TLS 1.0 & 1.1) and will be supporting TLS 1.2 and newer going forward.

This deprecation will affect you if you use an older browser.

Clients using Internet Explorer:

• If you have Windows 7, updating the Internet Explorer version may not work. When you are accessing the Criterions EHR website in the Internet Explorer version 11, the EHR may not allow you to login.
• Microsoft does not provide updates for Windows 7 Operating System any longer.
• Microsoft officially phased out support for Internet Explorer versions 7 through 10, that means the Microsoft will no longer release Security Update Patches for the browser.
• Windows 7 has an IE version 11.0.9600.18015, however, Criterions EHR will not work on this version anymore due to security reasons.
• Criterions EHR only works on Internet Explorer version 11.900.18362.0 of Windows 10.

Recommended Browsers:

EHR works well with the following Browsers:
• Latest version of Google Chrome
• Latest version of Firefox
• Latest version of Microsoft Edge

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us using the form below and a member of our team will be in touch:

How can practices gather the information they need from patients for effective medical treatment while contact is limited to the minimal amount necessary?

Criterions EHR has an available patient portal that allows patients to document information while at home. The capabilities of this portal are currently being expanded to cover more of the intake process and reduce a patient’s time in the office. To achieve these goals, Criterions is working on the following new function for patients to populate information at home:

Consent Forms

One hurdle many practices are facing is how to capture consent forms from the patient from home. Our new solution will allow practices to assign consent forms (HIPAA Waivers, Agreements to Pay, etc.) to the patient to be signed though the portal. Signed or declined forms will be filed in the patient’s documents.

Additional Initiatives

We are also working on a few other initiatives including:
- Scanning and uploading driver’s license/insurance
- Custom questionnaires for your patients
- Text messaging to check in

We would love feedback from our current customers on these initiatives. If you would like to participate in a survey to help us learn how to best implement these new functionalities to benefit your practice, please reach out to Mark Greenleaf at mark.greenleaf@criterions.com.

Any questions or concerns? Contact us below:

In compliance with HIPAA regulations we are updating our Business Associate Agreement with all Criterions ‘Covered Entities (clients).  This is mandatory for us to service your account.

To simplify this requirement and eliminate any question for conformity, we have reproduced the latest sample template provided on the Health and Human Services’ website. 

To update your BAA with Criterions, please complete the form at: https://form.jotform.com/criterions/hipaa

There is no need to print this form as it will be electronically signed with a copy emailed to you upon completion. Thank you.

Questions? Contact our team:

• EHR fees, if not already adjusted for reference libraries, are billable at $135.00/month/provider.
• eRx will now be invoiced annually by Criterions (previously invoiced by Application Service Provider). It will continue to be billed at our net cost.  There will be no sales taxes collected as these fees are for service transmissions received by the RxHub which is out of state.
• EDI, Clearinghouse fees, previously invoiced by Application Service Provider (if applicable), will be added to your monthly Criterions invoice.  There will be no sales taxes collected as these fees are for service transmissions received by the Clearinghouse which is out of state.
• We will be transitioning for all invoicing to be done by email or ACH withdrawals.  If you wish to have mailed invoices there will be an additional fee. Please contact our office if you wish to discuss this option.

Questions? Contact our team:

Upcoming Feature Limitations in TCMS

Effective March 31^st 2019, TCMS users will NOT be able to perform EDI functions.  You will need to use our Browser interface to perform any EDI functions (ex: claim submission, ERA or eligibility).

As part of our aggressive path towards best practices, performance, redundancy and security we must enable additional security protocols and ciphers to further protect and insulate PHI and as recommended by HIPAA.

Once enabled, the following features will not work in TCMS:

1. ALL EMC/EDI features like:
   • creating claims
   • sending a file
   • retrieving reports
2. Retrieving ERN files
3. Eligibility Submission and result processing will not work
4. Creating e-Track

Criterions is required to use AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and TLS 1.2.

The executable version of TCMS cannot support these encryption protocols and ciphers

These requirements come from HHS, https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/breach-notification/guidance/index.html

As per NIST requirements for HIPAA http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-52r1

Browser access, cloud or self-hosted, has always supported these.

Sample article on HIPAA requirements:

https://www.vmracks.com/resources/hipaa-compliant-hosting-insights/choosing-the-right-type-of-encryption-for-hipaa-data/

If you believe your office will be adversely affected please contact Criterions using the form below: