WASHINGTON, DC — The Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network (WISHIN) announced today that it has earned the Validated Data Stream designation in the new National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Data Aggregator Validation program. It is part of the latest NCQA cohort to voluntarily seek and earn the new NCQA validation.
“The Validated Data Stream designation is a substantial achievement because it positions WISHIN to deliver more value to our clients. And it’s a win-win for our customers — it’s a win for health plans because their ‘chart chase’ burden for HEDIS ® measures can be substantially reduced, and it’s a win for providers, who won’t have to accommodate the ‘chart chasers,’” said WISHIN CEO Joe Kachelski.
The validation applies to 44 sources of hospital, clinic, and diagnostic data to be used by health plans as supplemental data which has been primary source verified. Data streams that earn validation undergo a rigorous, end-to-end look at the quality and integrity of data and the procedures used to manage and safeguard it. From ingestion at primary sources through transmission to end users, verifies adherence to NCQA process, system and data standards.
Validation makes aggregated clinical data streams more valuable. Leveraging the consensus-based Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) audit process to prospectively validate clinical data flows, validation promotes trust in aggregated clinical data assets — and in the insights drawn from these data sources. It is a boost for value-based contracting and, in combination with new federal technology standards, makes many of its core features truly routine.
Seen as a vital, early step in achieving NCQA’s vision of a digital measurement ecosystem, validated data flows also improve the efficiency of today’s quality measurement processes. Uniquely accepted as standard supplemental data in HEDIS® audits, no primary source verification is required for HEDIS reporting when health plans report data from Data Aggregator Validation validated sources.
For more information on NCQA validation, please click here.
