The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has put hospitals and critical access hospitals on notice that they may need to provide an electronic health record "navigator" to a state surveyor in order to comply with state survey requirements.
In a memorandum to state survey agency directors dated May 16, CMS said that surveyors may want direct access to a hospital's EHR system. The agency anticipates that surveyors will want a navigator to assist with medical record information retrieval for survey tasks requiring detailed medical record review. The navigator will need to have expertise in using, navigating and showing others how to use the EHR, and have the requisite permissions to access the data. Failure to make a navigator available when requested can be grounds for terminating a hospital's Medicare provider contract. Memorandum (.pdf)