The National Committee for Quality Assurance announced a program this week geared toward ensuring the validity of clinical data used for quality reporting and other initiatives.  

The Data Aggregator Validation program is aimed at giving health plans, government entities and care delivery organizations confidence in the validity of their clinical data. It does so, says the NCQA, by evaluating how organizations ingest, transform and output that data.  

"We invested heavily over the past two decades to digitize clinical data in this country, and we aren't yet getting full value from that investment because the data are inconsistent, incomplete and unvalidated," said Dr. Brad Ryan, NCQA chief product officer, in a statement.   

"NCQA's Data Aggregator Validation program brings trust, comparability and utility to clinical data streams for use in [Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS)] and beyond," Ryan added.  

WHY IT MATTERS  

As Ryan notes, HEDIS reporting – frequently relied upon for quality-improvement measures – increasingly uses data from health information exchanges, care delivery organizations and other data aggregators.  

According to the NCQA, data streams validated through the DAV can be used as standard supplemental data in HEDIS reporting – which sidesteps the need for primary source verification during the HEDIS audit process.  

In turn, says the committee, provider organizations and health plans can save time and money.  

As part of the pilot and early adopter programs, four organizations – Hixny, HealtheConnections, HEALTHeLINK and Manifest MedEx – had data streams validated.   

The association is now continuing to validate streams through a series of cohorts, the first of which began in July. Participants include:

• Azara Healthcare LLC
• COZEVA by Applied Research Works, Inc.
• CyncHealth Diameter Health 
• Healthix 
• HealthShare Exchange
• Kansas Health Information Network, Inc.
• KPI Ninja
• Los Angeles Network for Enhanced Services
• Stellar Health 
• Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network   

"The Data Aggregator Validation program is important to HealtheConnections and our participants, particularly clinical practices and health plans, because it provides real value in support of our ongoing work in quality measurement," said Rob Hack, president and CEO of HealtheConnections, in a statement.   

"Additionally, the program demonstrates HealtheConnections' commitment to data quality, data governance and process that expands beyond the realm of quality measurement," he continued.  

THE LARGER TREND  

The NCQA has undertaken several initiatives in recent years to make quality measurement more trustworthy and easier.   

This past summer, as telehealth use skyrocketed throughout the United States, it adjusted the measures used for HEDIS scores to reflect the "new normal" of broadly available virtual care.   

Still, the current quality measurement system has weaknesses – as the NCQA noted in a series of recommendations to President Joe Biden when he took office.

Although HEDIS has given leaders the ability to identify areas for improvement, the model is largely retrospective, as well as fragmented and inconsistent.  

"This digital quality future requires a lot more than [simply] digital measures or the standards that are evolving," said Ryan in an interview with Healthcare IT News at the time. "It requires the implementation of those standards and making those real."  

ON THE RECORD  

"We are proud to partner with NCQA in leading this important transformation effort to streamline data sharing and provide high-quality data for health plans and providers,” said Claudia Williams, CEO of Manifest MedEx, in a statement about the DAV program.   

"Reducing the burden of HEDIS reporting enables plans and providers to focus on what matters most – caring for patients and their communities," she said.

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Email: kjercich@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.