We all know data is an increasingly important aspect of health care, yet there are shortcomings.
“Over the past two decades, this country has invested heavily in digitizing clinical data. We haven’t yet gotten the full value of that investment because the data are inconsistent, incomplete and unvalidated,” said Brad Ryan, MD, Chief Product Officer at National Committee for Quality Assurances (NCQA).
Improving Health Data Quality
CyncHealth has taken many steps to continually improve the health data in Nebraska and make it an asset for Nebraska health care. One way is through participation in NCQA programs.
We just announced our inclusion in NCQA’s Data Aggregator Validation (DAV) program.
The NCQA DAV program evaluates clinical data streams to help ensure that health plans, providers, government organizations and others can trust the accuracy of aggregated clinical data for use in Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) reporting and other quality programs.
The DAV program assesses two sets of standards looking at the ingestion, data management and output of clinical data:
- Process, System and Data standards: Assesses the processes, policies and procedures for ingesting, managing and aggregating data
- Output Data Integrity standards: Assess an organization’s adherence to the NCQA Continuity of Care Document (CCD) Implementation Guide and primary source verification by testing and reviewing CCD output files
Validated Data Stream Status
CyncHealth’s data stream achieved Validated Data Stream status in the DAV program.
NCQA validates one or more “clusters”, or health care organizations clinical data that are ingested, processed and ultimately output as CCD files. NCQA evaluates data streams from the point of ingestion through output of CCD files, ensuring that standards and protocols are met and that the information provided from the original source accurately reflects that reported for use as standard supplemental data for HEDIS® or for other quality programs.
Benefits for Nebraska Health Care
“NCQA’s Data Aggregator Validation program brings trust, comparability and utility to clinical data streams for use in HEDIS and beyond,” Ryan said.
Validation makes aggregated clinical data streams more valuable. Leveraging the consensus-based HEDIS® audit process to prospectively validate clinical data flows, validation promotes trust in aggregated clinical data assets — and in the insights drawn from these data sources. It is a boost for value-based contracting and, in combination with new federal technology standards, makes many of its core features truly routine.
Learn More
Interested in how CyncHealth can assist your efforts through DAV? Contact Account Management today and let’s move forward together.
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HEDIS® is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
