Two foundational NQF projects are making headway on the
barriers that are impeding the potential of health IT. One project focuses on
how to improve interoperability—the efficient, secure communication of
information on computer-based systems among providers and between providers and
patients. The other is developing methods to assess the quality of
telehealth—the use of technology to deliver healthcare, healthcare information,
or health education through technology to patients and providers. Both projects
are funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“Health IT that delivers safe, effective, and coordinated care
is a critical component of the transformation of our healthcare system,” said
Mark Savage, advisor for the National Partnership for Women & Families and
co-chair of NQF’s Interoperability Committee. “NQF has brought the brightest
health IT experts together with stakeholders from the public and private sectors—including
consumers—to build vitally needed measurement structures that move us toward better
health IT, for better health and care.”
NQF’s Interoperability Committee (PDF) is
developing a measurement structure and related measure concepts to better
understand and resolve the issues preventing the seamless exchange and use of
data between diverse health IT systems. The NQF committee recently published findings
of its environmental scan of the key components of interoperability,
including infrastructure and services needed to support the exchange of information;
the flow of information between systems and its use among providers, patients,
and payers; and determining how that information would have a measurable impact
on the development of a learning healthcare system. Earlier this year, the committee
published findings from interviews
with key informants about the most important components needed to assess
interoperability objectively. The committee’s full report is due in September
2017.
NQF’s Telehealth Committee (PDF) is examining how best to apply clinical measures to telehealth encounters
between patients and providers. The
committee also is developing a structure to measure the quality of telehealth, which
has grown substantially in a variety of care settings—but especially rural
settings—in the past 20 years. Finally, the committee is designing an approach
for measuring nonclinical areas of telehealth, such as increased access to care
and cost-effectiveness.
“In rural areas especially, health IT is a vital resource
for people seeking help from hard-to-find specialists, such as mental health
providers,” said Marcia Ward, PhD, director of the Rural Telehealth Research
Center at the University of Iowa, and co-chair of NQF’s Telehealth Committee. “As
telehealth services grow, it’s important to measure their quality and identify
areas for improvement just as we do for care that people receive in hospitals,
at doctors’ offices, at home, and in other settings.”
Two bills recently introduced in the U.S. Senate would
expand Medicare coverage of telehealth care. The Telehealth
Innovation and Improvement Act would allow hospitals to test providing
telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries, while the Creating
High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care
Act of 2017 would cover more services, including telehealth assessments and
consultations, for people covered by Medicare who are living with chronic
illness. Both bills are currently before the Senate Finance Committee for
review. The NQF Telehealth project report is due in August.
