This appendix includes links to sources with additional information about key data sources, concepts, or standards discussed in the report.
All-payer claims databases (APCD)
The APCD Council is a federation of government, private, non-profit, and academic organizations focused on improving the development and deployment of State-based all payer claims databases. Their Web site contains useful information on active and developing APCDs, projects related to APCDs, and standardization related to APCDs. Available at: http://www.apcdcouncil.org.
Continuity of Care Document (CCD)
The Continuity of Care Document is a standard for transferring information between health IT systems during care transitions. The CCD standard was developed by the Health IT Standards Panel to harmonize the Clinical Data Architecture interoperability standard developed by Health Level 7 (HL7) with the Continuity of Care Record developed by ASTM (see next entry). Background on the CCD standard, as well as additional technical details, are available from HL7 at: http://wiki.hl7.org/index.php?title=Product_CCD .
Continuity of Care Record (CCR)
The Continuity of Care Record is a standard for transferring information between health IT systems during care transitions. The CCR is related to the CCD, but was developed by ASTM (formerly American Society for Testing and Materials). Information about the CCR standard is available from ASTM at: http://www.astm.org/Standards/E2369.htm
Health IT Standards Panel
Although the HIT Standards Panel formally concluded in April 2010, the HITSP Web site contains a wealth of information about current health IT standards for interoperability, including continuity of care documents (CCD), EHR lab results reporting, and consultations and transfers of care. Available at: http://www.hitsp.org/default.aspx .
Meaningful Use Incentive Program
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides an overview of the Meaningful Use incentive program and links to the program requirements and measures, available at: https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/index.html.
Guidance for calculating the Clinical Quality Measures required for the Meaningful Use program is available at: http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/QualityMeasures/index.html.
National Quality Forum (NQF) Quality Data Model
Information about the NQF Quality Data Model is available at: http://www.qualityforum.org/Projects/h/QDS_Model/Quality_Data_Model.aspx#t=1&s=&p .
Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is the central coordinating entity for Federal health IT development efforts. The ONC Web site has a wealth of information about health IT standards, initiatives, and the Meaningful Use Incentive Program: https://www.healthit.gov/topic/about-onc
Of particular interest is the Health IT Policy Committee (HITPC), which includes workgroups focused on Meaningful Use, certification and adoption of Health IT, and information exchange, among others. The HITPC Web site is available at: https://www.healthit.gov/hitac/committees/health-it-policy-committee
Also of interest is the Health IT Standards Committee (HITSC) which is charged with making recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health IT on standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for the electronic exchange and use of health information. The HITSC Web site is available at: https://www.healthit.gov/hitac/committees/health-it-standards-committee
popHealth
The popHealth tool is designed to help EHR vendors and health care providers extract data elements required to inform all 44 Meaningful Use Stage I quality measures from their Continuity of Care records (CCD or CCR). A summary of the popHealth tool is available at: http://projectpophealth.org.
After creating an account, users may download the programs through the Web site in order to run popHealth software, available at: http://projectpophealth.org/download.html .
Registry of Patient Registries (RoPR)
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is developing a Registry of Patient Registries (RoPR), similar to clinicaltrials.gov, to provide searchable information about the focus, content, design, and stewardship of many patient registries in the country. Information about RoPR is available at: https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/topics/registry-of-patient-registries/research-2012-3
Standards and Interoperability (S&I) Framework
The S&I Framework is a federal initiative to harmonize interoperability efforts within the health IT field. A wealth of information about the framework, its objectives, on-going work, and how to participate, is available at: https://www.healthit.gov/topic/interoperability/standards-interoperability-si-framework