May 24, 2005
NCQA to Certify Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems; Certification Based on Compatibility with Diabetes Program
Program will help physicians, medical groups select among EHR vendors
Joint NCQA/CCHIT Statement on EHR Certification
WASHINGTON — The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) today announced plans to develop a new certification program for electronic health record (EHR) keeping systems. The program, the first of its kind, will evaluate EHR systems for compliance and compatibility with the data collection and reporting requirements of the popular NCQA/American Diabetes Association Diabetes Physician Recognition Program. More than 2,000 physicians have been recognized under that program to date; EHR certification will streamline participation for thousands of additional physicians each year, thus helping many of them qualify for rewards paid through various pay-for-performance efforts nationwide.
“Good electronic health record systems help physicians help their patients,” said Bob Kaplan , NCQA’s Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer. “Now they can also help doctors qualify for pay-for-performance rewards. This program will help doctors and medical groups identify and select EHR systems that will support their quality goals.”
To qualify for recognition under the Diabetes Physician Recognition Program (DPRP), physicians are required to pull a random sample of patient files and calculate the percentage of those patients who received recommended screening exams (e.g., foot exams, eye exams and blood pressure checks) and had certain key metabolic rates (e.g., lipid level, HbA1c level) controlled. Doctors who meet established thresholds earn recognition. Using compatible EHR software can substantially streamline the data gathering process and even help physicians compute preliminary results for comparison to the thresholds for recognition.
Certified vendors will be entitled to market their EHR systems as “NCQA-Certified to support the Diabetes Physician Recognition Program.” This label takes on special significance in markets where pay-for-performance programs have been established. Dozens of such efforts are now underway, including the widely publicized Bridges to Excellence initiative.
NCQA also expects the new certification program will help speed the adoption of EHRs throughout the physician community. “The question you hear a lot of medical groups asking about EHRs is, ‘which one should we select?’” said Kaplan. “By certifying those EHR systems that provide doctors with good data and that help them qualify for recognition; it takes some of the guesswork out of the decision.”
NCQA is currently developing related standards and “test decks” that will be used to assess whether a given EHR system is DPRP compatible. NCQA will launch the program with a limited number of early adopters to pilot test the program. EHR vendors interested in participating in the early phase testing are encouraged to contact Allison Klein at 202-955-1703.
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and manages the evolution of HEDISâ, the tool the nation’s health plans use to measure and report on their performance. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.