Certifying Quality Measures Electronically
July 7, 2016 · NCQA Communications
NCQA is now certifying quality measures electronically. And we have some good news to share in this area. NCQA is working with Premier, Inc. which is the first company to receive NCQA’s new Electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQM) Certification.
Electronic Clinical Quality Measures
This designation verifies the ability to automate extracting and reporting of electronic clinical data used for HEDIS® (Healthcare Effectiveness Data Information Set) measures.
With the growth of electronic health records (EHRs) and continued interest from EHR vendors, data aggregators, Health Information Exchanges, and health plans, NCQA has developed the eCQM program to ensure a higher degree of reliability for eCQM data.
NCQA’s new eCQM Certification validates technology companies for accurately calculating eCQMs and proving they can transfer clinical data collected for HEDIS reporting. The testing is tough. Companies must prove they have the technology for data validation and data file content, and demonstrate that they can accurately calculate eCQMs.
Certifying Quality Measures Electronically
As the first company set to meet this higher standard for electronic extraction and reporting, Premier will work closely with its member hospitals, health systems and EHR partners to ensure that an accurate and usable data feed is electronically transmitted to payers through its integrated PremierConnect® platform.
For health plans and provider organizations this will save money and time, eliminating the need for expensive manual chart review and additional audit tasks.
“We applaud Premier for taking the bold first step in what will be a revolutionary component in health care data collecting and measurement,” says Margaret E. O’Kane, President, NCQA. “This certification represents the highest and most rigorous standard in data validation, and is a signal to the industry that we are pushing clinical data collection and reporting through a streamlined, verified electronic process to support our quality measurement programs. It also lays the groundwork for NCQA to offer similar services for our quality measurement programs, such as Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition.”
“With most payers and providers burdened by labor-intensive and costly manual methods to extract HEDIS data, this designation is a significant differentiator for Premier. It highlights how our open technology platform can proficiently, efficiently and effectively interoperate with EHRs and other electronic systems to collect accurate, detailed data on quality measures and deliver results,” said Keith J. Figlioli, Senior Vice President of Healthcare Informatics at Premier. “We look forward to connecting payers and providers on this improved process, which can reduce reporting challenges and allow all parties to focus on the real goal of improving patient outcomes.”
