Background

The SITE C-CDA Scorecard enables providers, implementers, and health IT professionals with a tool that compares how artifacts created by health IT stack up against the HL7 C-CDA implementation guide and HL7 best practices. The "One Click Scorecard" is a provider-focused testing service where providers can send a Direct message with a C-CDA payload to ONC's service, then automatically receive a PDF file report of the C-CDA as a Direct message attachment.

Providers using the DirectTrust network can send a clinical summary documents (C-CDA) Direct message to scorecard@direct.hhs.gov and the One Click Scorecard service will return a letter grade (A, B, C, D) report to the sender. The report summarizes C-CDA quality against industry best practices and conformance to the ONC 2014-2015 certification requirements.

Notice Regarding the Disclosure of Protected Health Information

The disclosure of Protected Health Information (PHI) by health care providers and their business associates is only permitted under certain circumstances without patient authorization or a business associate agreement. One such circumstance is when PHI is disclosed to a “health oversight agency” (45 CFR 160.103; 45 CFR 164.501; 164.512(d)(1)(iii)). ONC, in its administration and oversight of the Health IT Certification Program, meets the definition of a “health oversight agency” (81 FR 72431).

Thus, health care providers and their business associates, if authorized by their business associate agreements, may disclose PHI to ONC while self-testing ONC-certified health IT via the “One Click Scorecard” benchmarking tool without patient authorization and without a business associate agreement with ONC.

Stakeholders should not disclose PHI to ONC if they are not self-testing ONC-certified health IT. More information about the C-CDA Scorecard feature of the One Click Scorecard benchmarking tool can be found  here , including instructions for how to download and locally install a version of the C-CDA Scorecard.

Once a C-CDA is tested and scored, the entire C-CDA along with any PHI is immediately erased and is not retained.  ONC will only retain the numerical scores generated during testing for benchmarking and industry-reporting.