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Cdph Revises Guidance on Parkinson's Reporting Requirements

Effective July 1, 2018, physicians and licensed independent practitioners are now required to report cases of Parkinson's disease to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Licensed independent practitioners holding the following credentials who diagnose or treat Parkinson's disease patients are required to report: Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.), Physician's Assistant (P.A.), and Nurse Practitioner (N.P.). All providers required to report must first register with CDPH through the designated gateway at https://hie.cdph.ca.gov/.

In April, CDPH issued details about how health care providers can comply with the reporting mandate. Since the issuance of the initial guidance, the California Medical Association (CMA) and other stakeholders expressed concerns to CDPH about the scope, breadth and timing of this new reporting obligation.

CDPH has since revised its California Parkinson's Disease Registry Implementation Guide to address several of these concerns. Among the changes are limiting the number of reportable ICD-10 codes to only include patient encounters for diagnosis or treatment of Parkinson's Disease or Parkinsonism occurring on or after July 1, 2018. CDPH has also specified that while any encounter type can trigger the requirement to report, such as outpatient visits, ancillary encounters are excluded (e.g., lab, imaging, cardio-pulmonary and therapies). The revised Implementation Guide provides a flow chart of reportable Parkinson's Disease cases to assist providers in determining their reporting obligations.

CMA and other stakeholders continue to work closely with CDPH to reduce the administrative burden these reporting requirements may pose on health care professionals.

CDPH has also extended the reporting compliance date for cases encountered during the first quarter the law is in effect (July 1 to September 30, 2018) from 90 days to 180 days. Thus, providers who have trouble getting registered or interfacing with the CDPH reporting portal or who initially simply need more time will have 180 days from the date of diagnosis or treatment of a Parkinson's case to report it. However, as of October 2, 2018, all cases must be reported within 90 days. CDPH continues to work closely with physician offices, medical groups and large health systems to optimize integration of the reporting interface with electronic health record systems. Manual entry will remain an option for all providers.

The revised Implementation Guide is available at www.cdph.ca.gov/parkinsons. The guide provides information for reporting Parkinson's disease data, outlines who is required to report, the timeline for reporting, and the manual and electronic methods for transmitting data to the California Parkinson's Disease Registry.

The data collected will be used to measure the incidence and prevalence of Parkinson's disease. California's large and diverse population makes it ideal for expanding the understanding of this disease to improve the lives of Parkinson's patients.

For more information, see CDPH's fact sheet, which provides more details related to the new law.