WASHINGTON—At least 360 dialysis clinics will be a part of CROWNWeb’s Phase III implementation starting in January 2011, according to information on CROWNWeb’s website.
The announcement came in a June 23 memo from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The 360 facilities in Phase III will include independent and corporate facilities.
Federal rules released in 2008 that govern how dialysis clinics must operate, said that all dialysis providers would be required to turn in patient information (such as events, forms and lab data) using electronic data-submission software called CROWNWeb, which will be available to facilities through a secure Internet site.
In early 2009, CMS made the decision to phase in the use of CROWNWeb instead of rolling out a full nationwide release at one time.
If CMS finds the third round of implementation to be successful, then the agency will target late spring 2011 for the full national release of CROWNWeb.
According to the CROWNWeb website: “Phase III will also introduce CMS' QualityNet Identity Management System (QIMS), a replacement of the QIPS account activation system, and Multi- Factor Authentication, a federal security requirement in which an additional level of authentication is used to verify an identity. Similar to the previous releases, this installment will provide CMS with an opportunity to conduct usability analyses, and will play a role in the finalization of the national release date.”
The first phase-in in February 2009 included eight dialysis facilities from Networks 3, 8, 12 and 16—which cover 15 states and territories in the northeast, south, Midwest and northwest regions of the United States.
Ten facilities from each of the 18 End-Stage Renal Disease Networks took part in the second phase during August 2009. Half of the 180 clinics involved were from large dialysis organizations, which included Fresenius, DaVita and Dialysis Clinic Inc. The other half included small and mid-size providers.
