Webinar - eMeasure Training (IT Vendors) 

Collecting and reporting accurate, comparative healthcare performance data is complex and largely a time consuming, manual process. Performance measures today are typically paper-based or in PDF format and rely on abstraction of data, attestation, or retrospective reporting of clinical care (e.g., billing data) to calculate whether a quality measure goal is achieved. Much of the clinical information required for performance measurement today is currently available in electronic health records (EHRs) but not necessarily in a structured format. Similarly, measures have not defined performance criteria in a way that allows information systems to consistently capture appropriate EHR data that directly corresponds to quality measure components.

While EHRs design templates and screen flows to maximize system performance and ease of use, standard concepts and structures exist that enable sharing of structured information from EHRs (i.e., promote interoperability). NQF, through the Health Information Technology Expert Panel (HITEP), established the Quality Data Model (QDM, formerly referred to as the Quality Data Set) to enable such expression of data requirements in the context of EHR structured data sharing. To further enable electronic measurement, NQF supported the development of an electronic standard based on the QDM known as the eMeasure representation of the Health Quality Measure Format (HQMF). This standard will allow EHR vendors to closely manage information required for measurement in their products. In the near future, NQF will launch the Measure Authoring Tool, a web-based, easy to use tool that will allow measure developers to define the information needed in a manner that informs EHRs how to capture and express it.

This 75-minute interactive program discussed: 

• what is an eMeasure and why is it important;
• the difference between retooled and new measures;
• the HQMF standard for performance measures;
• how to interpret and utilize the components of an eMeasure;
• what guidance should mean to you and how you should interpret it;
• how to prepare your EHR systems for eMeasures;
• potential challenges and new opportunities;
• NQF’s role in eMeasures and the anticipated Measure Authoring Tool; and
• other NQF health IT initiatives and opportunities for stakeholder/member involvement.

Featured Faculty: 

• Floyd Eisenberg, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President, Health IT, NQF
• Stan Rankins - Solutions Analyst, Iowa Foundation for Medical Care
• Andrew Schmidt - Systems Engineer, Iowa Foundation for Medical Care
• Fran Spivak, Senior Project Director, Nursing Informatics, Health IT, NQF

Registrants may access the webinar by emailing dsims@qualityforum.org