EHR Systems

EHR Integration Process

In order for the American Academy of Ophthalmology IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight) to deliver optimal value to Academy members, including quality improvement and Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting, it must aggregate valid data from electronic health records (EHR) systems that are secure and reliable, and that share comprehensive data in a timely and well-organized manner.

Together, the Academy and Verana Health continue to offer participation in the IRIS Registry at no charge to Academy members. Verana Health is working with each EHR system vendor and each practice to connect the EHR data with the IRIS Registry and configure the data connections and mappings for all quality measures with nearly 30 EHR systems. We call this process integration, and it allows us to provide complete data that supports accurate quality feedback and MIPS reporting for your practice.

If you do not see your EHR system in the list below, please send an email to irisdatalink@veranahealth.com.

If your electronic health record (EHR) system  is not yet integrated with Verana Health, please contact us before the deadline of April 1, 2023. (Practices that are not integrated with Verana Health through the IRIS Registry, by April 1, 2023, will no longer have a FIGmd dashboard)

* Beginning in 2023, practices using these EHRs are eligible to participate in the IRIS Registry by sharing a flat file in the schema format provided by Verana Health.

MIPS Reporting

2022: During this transitional year, some practices will use their new quality measures dashboard from Verana Health and report MIPS via Verana Health. Practices that are not scheduled to receive their new dashboard in 2022 will continue to use their existing FIGmd dashboard and will report MIPS via FIGmd.

2023: All practices with eligible EHR systems are projected to receive their new Verana Health quality measures dashboard by summer 2023 and will report MIPS via Verana Health. 

ALL: Verana Health highly recommends that all practices continue working with FIGmd on their quality measures dashboard and MIPS reporting until they have received their new dashboard from Verana Health. 

Communications With Verana Health

Verana Health has reached out to all participating practices regarding the transition. If you have not yet heard from Verana Health it may be because it does not have your current contact information. Send an email to irisdatalink@veranahealth.com with any contact updates.

Each practice will work with a Verana Health onboarding team that will support your practice before, during and after the transition. Emails will come from addresses ending in @veranahealth.com. Please add this domain to your safe senders list in your email system.

If you have any questions or need support, reach out to your Practice Experience Manager directly, send an email to irisdatalink@veranahealth.com or call 877.837.2621.

Ineligible EHR Systems

Integration is a demanding and exacting process that is costly and time consuming to do correctly. Our efforts have been highly successful with many EHR systems, particularly the ones used by the vast majority of ophthalmic practices. More than a dozen of these EHR systems are currently eligible to begin integration and the remaining systems are scheduled to begin integration by the end of 2022.

After this transition, some EHR systems (used by a small percent of participating practices) cannot be supported, given the difficulties in maintaining and integrating many different EHR systems. Several of these EHR systems have never been integrated with the IRIS Registry due to technical or financial considerations. Practices that use ineligible EHR systems may continue to participate in the IRIS Registry and report MIPS via FIGmd for the 2022 reporting year.

EHR systems that do not meet certain criteria are ineligible for integration with the IRIS Registry via Verana Health. These criteria may include:

• 2015 Edition ONC Health IT Certification
• HITRUST CSF Certification
• Acceptable data format, data quality, integration solution and security
• Shares sufficient data in a timely manner
• Free registry integration and hosting (no one-time or recurring fees)
• Low volume of practices or ophthalmologists participating in the IRIS Registry

Quality Measures Dashboard and MIPS Reporting Schedule

New IRIS Registry quality measures dashboards are being rolled out to practices starting May 2022. The rollout is expected to continue through summer 2023 and is based on your EHR system.

If you change your EHR system, please send an email to irisdatalink@veranahealth.com since this may change your expected dashboard rollout date.

MIPS Reporting Alternatives

You may be able to report MIPS data directly to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) using QRDA III files provided by your EHR vendor; check with them about their availability to do this, their success rate and any charges.

Other Qualified Clinical Data Registries and Qualified Registries you may be eligible to use for reporting are listed on CMS’ website, including FIGmd’s Polaris Registry which is available to practices not participating in its specialty registry.

If your practice has questions, please contact the Verana Health Practice Experience Management Team at irisdatalink@veranahealth.com.

Manual Entry

Practices that participate in the IRIS Registry, via manual entry, may continue to do so via FIGmd through 2023 and report MIPS via FIGmd.

Beginning March 31, 2024, when the 2023 reporting period concludes, manual entry will no longer be supported. Instead, Verana Health will move toward the goal of MIPS reporting via electronic health records in order to focus on quality improvement value beyond MIPS reporting.

Other Qualified Clinical Data Registries and Qualified Registries that are available for reporting may be found on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website, including FIGmd’s Polaris Registry (open to practices not participating in their specialty registry).

We apologize for any inconvenience this update may cause, and thank you for your support.