diff --git a/Providers/Modules/Plugins/Common/plugin/out_oms.rb b/Providers/Modules/Plugins/Common/plugin/out_oms.rb
index b8d4ba05e..163c9525c 100644
--- a/Providers/Modules/Plugins/Common/plugin/out_oms.rb
+++ b/Providers/Modules/Plugins/Common/plugin/out_oms.rb
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ def initialize
       require_relative 'omslog'
       require_relative 'oms_configuration'
       require_relative 'oms_common'
+      require 'fileutils'
     end
 
     config_param :omsadmin_conf_path, :string, :default => '/etc/opt/microsoft/omsagent/conf/omsadmin.conf'
@@ -39,6 +40,16 @@ def shutdown
       super
     end
 
+    def write_heartbeat_status()
+      fn = '/var/opt/microsoft/omsagent/log/heartbeat'
+      begin
+        FileUtils.touch(fn)
+        @log.info "Written heartbeat status"
+      rescue => e
+         @log.warn "Error:'#{e}'"
+      end
+    end 
+
     def write_status_file(success, message)
       fn = '/var/opt/microsoft/omsagent/log/ODSIngestion.status'
       status = '{ "operation": "ODSIngestion", "success": "%s", "message": "%s" }' % [success, message]
@@ -103,8 +114,13 @@ def write(chunk)
       # Group records based on their datatype because OMS does not support a single request with multiple datatypes. 
       datatypes = {}
       unmergable_records = []
+      heartbeat_found = false
       chunk.msgpack_each {|(tag, record)|
         if record.has_key?('DataType') and record.has_key?('IPName')
+          if !heartbeat_found && tag.include?('oms.heartbeat')
+            heartbeat_found = true
+          end
+
           key = "#{record['DataType']}.#{record['IPName']}".upcase
 
           if datatypes.has_key?(key)
@@ -126,6 +142,11 @@ def write(chunk)
         handle_record(key, record)
       end
 
+      if heartbeat_found
+        write_heartbeat_status()
+        heartbeat_found = false
+      end
+
       @log.trace "Handling #{unmergable_records.size} unmergeable records"
       unmergable_records.each { |key, record|
         handle_record(key, record)