4 Tips for a Smooth TouchWorks MU Stage 2 Upgrade

Congratulations you are ready for the Meaningful Use Stage 2 upgrade with TouchWorks EHR! You have likely made it partially or all the way through your primary upgrade to v11.4.1 and are now focusing on the MU2 upgrade.  Based on the experiences of our consultants we wanted to share some key things to focus on.

1. Utilize the Client Prepare Checklist / Clinical Quality Measure (CQM) Workbook:

The Client Prepare Checklist is a high level look at preparations for the functional measure and general readiness for Meaningful Use Stage 2. Each of the core and functional measures are reviewed, as well as any optional components that may be considered. Each line item has a general description of what needs to be done. Anything that has v11.4.1 filled out in the v11.4.1 column signifies that the upgrade is required as features only available in v11.4.1 and are required for that configuration. Additionally, if appointment type mapping is required be sure that this is done before the ETL process is started.

The CQM Workbook is a high level review of the CQMs measure by measure in spreadsheet format. It provides a description of the measure and breaks down the numerator, denominator and any exceptions/exclusions. Also, each measure has its own page where it lists configurations and considerations to meet the measure. It also links to any value sets that it references to assist with the configuration. If at any time additional information is required, there is a configuration guide available on Client Connect, that goes into greater detail measure, by measure page.

2. Plan ahead regarding your Clinical Quality Measures:

Think about the 9 CQMs to be used to meet your Clinical Quality Measures. We strongly recommend you engage any resources at your organization that need to be involved in this decision. Once chosen, we recommend to filter the Clinical Quality Measure Workbook to just these measures and look at each one individually. Each measure has a quick look on the quality measures tab and then has its own page that has a checklist of the configurations. Each configuration that requires a value set value, has a link to that value set page within the workbook.

3. How do you know if Appointment Type Mapping is needed?

Mapping is required for measures that require the CPT Code to be recorded on the encounter. If all providers are not using the charge module, there will need to be another component delivered with the encounter that can add the CPT Code. The appointment type mapping can be utilized for the providers not using charge to meet this requirement. Your organization needs to verify if providers are using the charge module or if Appointment Type Mapping is required. If even one provider is not utilizing the Charge module then Appointment Type Mapping will be required. It is important this is done prior to the Export Transform Load (ETLs) being run as the ETLs are what pulls the mapping from the old portal to the new portal. This is not an ongoing pull for the mapping.

Link: https://clientconnect.allscripts.com/docs/DOC-21394
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4. Use Client Connect:

Client Connect is a great resource for all up-to-date configuration guides, checklists/workbooks and many other resources. If more information is necessary on any MU measure there are configuration guides for each measure. The configuration details, workflow considerations, calculations and other details are contained in these guides. These guides walk through each of the steps to both configure and workflows to meet the calculations.

Link: https://clientconnect.allscripts.com/docs/DOC-15238
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Additionally, there are advisory blogs that can be followed. These can all be subscribed to so the updates can be sent to a Client Connect inbox, email inbox or both. There are multiple blogs containing information from updates and advisories.

Link: https://clientconnect.allscripts.com/docs/DOC-19659
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