National Health Care Surveys Registry Portal Frequently Asked Questions

The National Health Care Surveys (NHCS) Registry Portal is a web-based application that enables Eligible Clinicians (ECs), Eligible Professionals (EPs), Eligible Hospitals (EHs), and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to register their intent to submit Electronic Health Record (EHR) data to the NHCS as part of their participation in the Promoting Interoperability (PI) or Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

If you are logged into the NHCS Registry Portal, please click the FAQ button next to the dashboard button and the User Manual will be located at the top of the FAQ webpage.

We recommend using Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox for a better user experience. The NHCS Registry Portal is not compatible with Internet Explorer.

Yes. The NHCS Registry Portal can be accessed on a laptop, mobile device, desktop, and tablet.

To access your registrations, follow the steps below:

1. Go to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
2. Click the ‘Reset Password?’ button.
3. Enter the email address you originally registered with and click the ‘Reset Password’ button.
4. Receive an automated e-mail with a link to reset your password.
5. Click the reset password link within 24 hours in the automated e-mail or copy and paste it into a new browser.
6. Enter and confirm a valid Password, then click the ‘Submit’ button.
7. Once the system displays a confirmation message that your password has successfully changed, click the ‘Home’ button at the top right-hand corner and log in with your new credentials.
8. After logging in, your migrated registrations will be set to Draft. You will need to verify your information and then click the ‘Submit’ button at the bottom of the webpage to ensure your registrations were properly migrated.

The NHCS Registry Portal process consists of the following steps:

1. 1. Go to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. Request a Portal Account by clicking the ‘Register’ button on the right-hand side.
   3. Complete a Registry profile by filling out the required fields which are denoted by asterisks.
   4. Receive an automated ‘Registration Complete’ e-mail with an e-mail verification link.
   5. Click the verification link or copy and paste it into a new browser within 24 hours to activate the account and complete the registration process.

A valid National Provider Identifier (NPI) number is required for each Provider, Hospital, and Actual Group Registration. To verify an NPI number, please refer to the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) NPI Registry at https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/external icon  or the National Provider Identifier Database (NPIdb) at https://npidb.org/external icon.

Provider Registrations are used to register an individual provider’s intent to submit EHR data upon request to the NHCS Registry.

To submit a Provider Registration, follow the steps below:

1. 1. Log in to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. Click the ‘Add Provider’ button from the ‘Navigate To’ drop down menu and select ‘Go.’’
   3. Complete and submit the Provider Signup form.

Hospital Registrations are used to register an individual hospital’s intent to submit EHR data upon request to the NHCS Registry.
To submit a Hospital Registration, follow the steps below:

1. 1. Log in to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. Click the ‘Add Hospital’ button from the ‘Navigate To’ drop down menu and select ‘Go.’
   3. Complete and submit the Hospital Signup form.

There are two types of Group Registrations:

*Actual Group Registration: A registration used to record an existing group practice’s intent to submit data to the NHCS Registry that requires an NPI number.

*Logical Group Registration: An organizational mechanism that allows a user to organize their affiliated Provider/Group/Hospital Registrations and does not require an NPI number.

*Both Group Registrations will be able to generate an Annual Active Engagement Verification Documentation (AAEVD) letter for the current Calendar Year (CY).

To submit a Group Registration, follow the steps below:

1. 1. Log in to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. Click the ‘Add Group’ button from the ‘Navigate To’ drop down menu and select ‘Go.’
   3. Complete and submit the Group Signup form.

A Bulk Upload is typically used by medium to large group practices to register their associated provider’s and hospital’s intent to submit EHR data upon request to the NHCS Registry.

To submit a Bulk Upload, follow the steps below:

1. 1. Log in to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. Click the ‘Bulk Upload’ button from the ‘Navigate To’ drop down menu and select ‘Go.’
   3. Download the Bulk Upload spreadsheet/current registrations by clicking the ‘Please click here to download your registrations’ link above the ‘Choose File’ button on the right-hand side of the screen.
   4. Review the ‘Instructions’ tab of the Bulk Upload spreadsheet.
   5. Fill in the downloaded spreadsheet with the required data elements and save the finalized Bulk Upload file to the desktop.
   6. Click ‘Choose File,’ and upload the finalized Bulk Upload file to the NHCS Registry Portal to complete the Bulk Upload process.
   7. Receive an e-mail confirmation.

You can submit a Bulk Upload spreadsheet as often as you like. Please be sure to download your current registrations first to avoid losing any data.  To complete a Bulk Upload, please follow the directions in question 11.

*Point of Contact (POC): is the person we contact when we are unable to reach the User.

*User: is the person that has an account in our Registry Portal system and can manage the day-to-day operations of a registration, such as reaching out to the hcs-support@cdc.gov inbox on behalf of the registered Providers, Hospitals and/or Groups.

Yes. You may begin and save your registration(s) to submit at a later date. Please note, your registration(s) will be in DRAFT status until completed. All registration(s) must be submitted before/by the December 31^st deadline. Once submitted, you will receive an Annual Active Engagement Verification Documentation (AAEVD) letter noting the date you actively engaged with us for that Calendar Year (CY).

To update your account information, follow the steps below:

1. 1. Log in to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. Click the arrow under your username on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
   3. Select ‘My Account.’
   4. Select ‘Update Account Information.’
   5. Modify the information displayed and then select ‘Update’ to complete the ‘Update Account Information’ process.

Yes. Your password will expire every 90 days.

If you are not logged into the NHCS Registry Portal, and want to reset your password, please go to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here and click ‘Reset Password?’.

If you are logged into the NHCS Registry Portal, please follow the steps below to update your password:

1. 1. Log into the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. At the top right-hand corner, click on the User drop down arrow.
   3. Click the ‘Reset Password’ button.
   4. Complete the requested information.
   5. Click the ‘Reset Password’ button.
   6. Receive the ‘Password Reset Successfully’ notification on the Registry Portal.

Your username is the e-mail address you used in submitting your request for a portal account. For a password reset, please follow the directions in question 16.

Yes. To update your registrant information, follow the steps below:

1. 1. Log in to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. View a list of the existing registrations on the user’s dashboard.
   3. Click the ‘Edit’ button on the registration you would like to update.
   4. Modify the information displayed.
   5. Click the ‘Submit’ button to complete update to the registrant information.
   6. Receive e-mail confirmation of the update.

Yes, the transfer registrations functionality will transfer ALL registrations from the original registrar to the new registrar. In order to transfer registrations to another user, the new registrar must have an ACTIVE account with NO registrations.

Please follow the steps below:

Log in to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.

1. 1. Click the ‘Transfer Ownership’ button from the ‘Navigate To’ drop down menu and select ‘Go.’
   2. Enter the e-mail address of an existing user to receive the registrations.
   3. Click ‘Submit.’
   4. Receive an automated e-mail with an e-mail verification link.
   5. Click the verification link or copy and paste it into a new browser to complete the Transfer Ownership process.

A delegate is a temporary assigned registrar that can access and update an original registrars’ registrations. In order to assign delegates to your registration, the delegate must have an ACTIVE account with NO registrations.

Please follow the steps below:

1. 1. Log in to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. Click the drop-down menu where the username is listed in the top right-hand corner.
   3. Click ‘Manage Delegate’.
   4. Type in the email address of the user you would like to assign as a delegate.
   5. Click on “Add Delegate”.
   6. When the delegate logs into their account, they should see the registrar’s registrations and be able to Edit, Save, Submit and Withdraw.
   7. Only when a delegate “Submits” a registration they will receive a confirmation email.

To unassign a delegate, the original registrar must follow the steps below:

1. 1. Log in to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. Click the drop-down menu where the username is listed in the top right-hand corner.
   3. Click on ‘Manage Delegates’.
   4. Under the ‘Action’ button, select ‘DISABLE’.

Please note: Once you disable a delegate, they will no longer be able to log into the NHCS Registry Portal unless the original registrar re-enables their account.

No. After completing registration once, your registrants have an active engagement status of Registered with NCHS.  That status can carry over from year to year so there is no need to “re-register” for each calendar year or reporting period. We ask that you keep your Registry Portal account ACTIVE by logging in at least once every 90 days, and update your registrations as frequently as possible.

If you no longer want to remain in active engagement, you can de-register by withdrawing your registrations from the Registry Portal.

Please follow the steps below:

1. 1. Log in to the NEW NHCS Registry Portal here.
   2. View a list of the existing registrations on the user’s dashboard.
   3. Click the ‘Withdraw’ button to the right of the registration you would like to de-register.

Receive confirmation e-mail.

The NHCS Registry currently requests data from sampled hospitals. When one or more of your registered hospitals are sampled, the hospital registrar will receive an invitation from the National Hospital Care Survey support team at nhcs-support@cdc.gov with instructions on next steps.

No. By registering with the NHCS Registry you are submitting the intent, if sampled, to submit data. If you choose to decline participation in data submission, you will need to de-register from the NHCS Registry. You will receive an Annual Active Engagement Verification Documentation (AAEVD) letter reflecting your de-registration from the registry portal. Please refer to question 23 for instructions on how to de-register.

Your NHCS Registry Portal account is active for 15 months. After 15 months with no activity, the account becomes inactive, meaning you will have to contact the helpdesk at hcs-support@cdc.gov to regain access to your account.

Please update your Provider/Group/Hospital Registrations as frequently as possible via the NHCS Registry Portal here.

We no longer use SAMS for the NHCS Registry Portal. We have revamped our portal and you can access your account by following the steps in question five.

If you receive the “Request Entity Too Large” error message, complete one of the three steps below:

1. 1. Click the ‘Refresh’ symbol next to the URL within the browser.
   2. Close any additional open tabs other than the main NHCS Registry Portal and try to log in.
   3. Exit the browser and try to log in.

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) annually issues NHCS Registry AAEVDs for the previous calendar year to all registrants/registrars by e-mail in January. Hospitals, providers, and groups that have successfully submitted their registration(s) to the NHCS Registry or have progressed to Testing and Validation (T&V) or Production submission of data are eligible to receive AAEVD letters.

If you are a user with an active account in the NHCS Registry Portal, but your registrations are in the DRAFT status, please update your registrations to the SUBMITTED status to receive an AAEVD letter.  Your AAEVD letter, dated on the last day of the year, will show your SUBMITTED registration date as the date you actively engaged with the NHCS Registry Portal.

If you have an account in the NHCS Registry Portal but have not yet activated it, you will need to activate it first by following the steps in FAQ question number five. Once you have an active account, please ensure that your registrations are in the SUBMITTED status to receive an AAEVD letter.

Yes. Starting in January 2020, all registrants must use CEHRT products that are also certified to the Promoting Interoperability (PI) criterion of 170.315 (f)(7): Transmission to Public Health Agencies – Health Care Surveys [(f)(7)]. For more information, please go to the Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) website.

To see if your EHR product is certified to (f)(7): Go to –Certified Health IT Product Listexternal icon and follow the steps below:

1. 1. Click on “Browse All” (at the top right of the screen).
   2. Click on “Certification Criteria” (near the search box).
   3. Click on “View 2015 Certification Criteria.”
   4. Scroll down the list and CHECK 170.315 (f)(7): Transmission to Public Health Agencies – Health Care Surveys (Note: click anywhere but the pop-up).

If you do not see your EHR product on the CHPL, ask your vendor if they are certified to (f)(7). NHCS will maintain your active engagement status if your product is certified and not listed on the CHPL website yet.

The EHR vendor list is updated once a month on the NHCS Registry Portal. Please select the most current version listed on the NHCS Registry, and once the EHR vendor list is updated, please update your vendor to its accurate version.

You will remain in active engagement with the NHCS Registry Portal with an active engagement status (option) of ‘EHR will be compatible’ if you are planning on upgrading/trying to become compliant.

If your EHR product is not certified to (f)(7) as of January 1, 2020, or if you do not plan to upgrade your product, then you will not be eligible for active engagement with the NHCS Registry.