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Project Status: Completed
Quality Data Model
Overview and Impact
The Quality Data Model (QDM) is an “information model” that clearly defines concepts used in quality measures and clinical care and is intended to enable automation of electronic health record (EHR) use. It provides a way to describe clinical concepts in a standardized format so individuals (i.e., providers, researchers, measure developers) monitoring clinical performance and outcomes can clearly and concisely communicate necessary information. The QDM describes information so that EHR and other clinical electronic system vendors can consistently interpret and easily locate the data required.
The QDM provides the potential for more precisely defined, universally adopted electronic quality measures to automate measurement and compare and improve quality using electronic health information. Use of the QDM will enable more standardized, less burdensome quality measurement and reporting and more consistent use and communication of EHRs for direct patient care. In addition to enabling comparisons across performance measures, the QDM can promote delivery of more appropriate, consistent, and evidence-based care through clinical decision support applications.
Status and Public Comment Process
To ensure QDM’s continued value and use, NQF will enhance and update it yearly to meet ever evolving quality measurement needs. A draft version of the QDM will be published in the third quarter of each year and will be open for comment. A final version of the QDM incorporating suggestions from the comment period and feedback from NQF’s Health IT Advisory Committee (HITAC) and other quality stakeholders will be published in the first quarter of each year.
Resources and Related Projects
Contact Information
For more information, please contact Juliet Rubini at 202-783-1300 or via email at qdm@qualityforum.org.
NQF is enhancing the model in response to evolving needs for quality measurement. Based on the comments submitted, the Quality Data Model (QDM) will be updated and new versions released as needed.
The QDM provides detail and explanations for the QDM standard categories, data types, previous definitions and current definitions and includes the rationale and other relevant comments for each revision to the model. All QDM versions are listed below in PDF format including the QDM Style Guide, which is a companion document to the QDM Update June 2012.
The QDM Style Guide addresses feasibility of QDM components with respect to EHRs certified for the 2014 EHR Certification Program proposed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). The QDM Style Guide provides guidance as to which information can be expected in structured form in referenced EHRs and which information may be important to measures but would likely require additional effort if certified EHRs are used as the only source of data.
The QDM version below is currently deployed in the Measure Authoring Tool and was used in the development of the 2014 Clinical Quality Measures.
QDM, Version 2.1.1.1 (PDF)
This version of the QDM will continue to evolve based on stakeholder input and feedback from the QDM User Group.
