For the meaningful use stage 1 objective “provide summary care record for each transition of care or referral “, should transitions of care between EPs within the same practice who share certified EHR technology be included in the numerator or denominator of the measure?
No, patients who transition between EPs within the same practice and who share the same certified EHR technology should not be included in the numerator or denominator of the measure of this objective. Since these transitions occur within the same practice between EPs who share certified EHR technology, they do not meet the definition of transition of care as the movement of a patient from one setting of care (for example, hospital, ambulatory primary care practice, ambulatory specialty care practice, long-term care, home health, rehabilitation facility) to another. Also, because EPs sharing the same certified EHR technology already have complete access to the patient’s electronic record, providing a summary of care document would serve no purpose. Therefore these patients should be excluded from the calculation of this measure.