Article Highlights:
- Kathy Talkington, director of Health Programs at Pew, said USCDI Version 2 is missing valuable information to help combat public health crises, such as COVID-19. “When finalizing the proposed version, ONC should ensure the USCDI includes data needed for public health and health equity, which can help public health agencies fight the current pandemic—and be better prepared for future crises,” Talkington wrote in a letter to ONC.
- According to Pew, over 40 percent of lab results are missing important patient data.
- To strengthen USCDI, Pew recommended ONC:
- Require the use of US Postal Service (USPS) standard to boost patient matching
- Include key data elements, such as travel history, employment, and death date
- Accelerate social determinants of health (SDOH) data integration
- Pew recommended ONC integrate additional demographic data, such as health plan ID or Medicare Beneficiary ID to provide a standardized way to improve patient matching and link patient records across systems. Pew said ONC should include an existing “problems” data class, a “specimen” data class, a “travel history” data class, a “work information” data class, an “observations” data class, and also include a “death date” data class.
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