Waivers

(1) Waiver Criteria. EOHHS may grant a waiver of the requirement to connect to the Mass HIway for the following situations. (a) The provider organization does not have internet access or a computer. (b) The provider organization does not have broadband internet access. (c) The provider organization is unable to meet the requirement to connect to the Mass HIway due to a catastrophic event (such as a natural disaster that damages the organization's health information technology infrastructure), or due to an extenuating circumstance. (d) The provider organization is unable to meet the requirement to fully implement a use case of sending and receiving HIway Direct Messages within the use case category of provider-to- provider communications, but the provider organization does meet the following criteria. 1. The provider organization must be able to demonstrate the technical capability to send and receive HIway Direct Messages with a HIway participant in order to demonstrate achieving a basic level of interoperability with provider organizations that use the Mass HIway as their HISP; 2. The provider organization successfully implements provider-to-provider Direct Messaging outside of the Mass HIway (e.g., using a non-Mass HIway HISP); and 3. The provider organization does not have any trading partners on the Mass HIway to implement a use case within the use case category of provider-to-provider communications. (e) The provider organization does not have the capability to send ADT feeds. (f) The provider organization has presented a compelling rationale for a waiver that EOHHS, in its discretion, may consider. (2) Waiver Duration. An approved waiver is valid for 24 months from the date of issue. Provider organizations that continue to experience circumstances that require a waiver must apply for another waiver at least 30 days before the expiration of their current waiver in order to avoid a penalty. (3) Waiver Request Review Process. After review of a provider organization’s request for a waiver, the Mass HIway will notify the provider organization in writing of its decision. If the waiver request is incomplete, the Mass HIway will ask the provider organization for more information. If the provider organization does not submit the requested information to the Mass HIway within 60 days of the request, then the Mass HIway will deny the waiver request. Denial of a waiver request is not subject to appeal, but a provider organization may reapply for a waiver with new or additional information.