ECDS News
Resources and Publications
Helping States Move Towards a Digital Quality System
As health care systems evolve to support greater interoperability of electronic health care information, quality measurement must also evolve. This resource guide outlines considerations and opportunities for state regulators supporting the move toward the digital quality system of tomorrow.
Issue Brief on Leveraging Electronic Clinical Data for HEDIS®
In 2019 and 2020, NCQA interviewed health plans that reported HEDIS using the ECDS reporting standard. This issue brief showcases strategies and opportunities to advance the collection and use of clinical data for improving care and quality measurement.
Reporting Results for Measures Leveraging Electronic Clinical Data
NCQA has published special reports summarizing HEDIS results for measures that use the Electronic Clinical Data Systems reporting standard. These reports, published in 2021, 2022, and 2024, highlight reporting trends over time as well as performance results across the measures.
Resource Guide on Leveraging Clinical Data for Measurement of Colorectal Cancer Screening
This resource guide supports health plans and other stakeholders in successfully reporting measures using electronic clinical data systems—specifically, on using electronic clinical data in reporting the HEDIS measure Colorectal Cancer Screening. The strategies and resources outlined in this guide can be adapted to other quality measures and improvement use cases.
Public Reporting
NCQA announced public reporting for the following HEDIS measures using the ECDS reporting standard. For information about use of these measures in programs such as NCQA’s Health Plan Ratings, refer to our FAQ page.
Measurement Year 2020
- Prenatal Immunization Status (PRS-E).
Measurement Year 2022
- Adult Immunization Status (AIS-E).
- Breast Cancer Screening (BCS-E).
- Prenatal Depression Screening and Follow-Up (PND-E).
- Postpartum Depression Screening and Follow-Up (PDS-E).
Measurement Year 2023
- Depression Remission or Response for Adolescents and Adults (DRR-E).
- Depression Screening and Follow-Up for Adolescents and Adults (DSF-E)
- Follow-Up Care for Children Prescribed ADHD Medication (ADD-E).
- Metabolic Monitoring for Children and Adolescents on Antipsychotics (APM-E).
- Unhealthy Alcohol Use Screening and Follow-Up (ASF-E).
- Utilization of the PHQ-9 to Monitor Depression Symptoms for Adolescents and Adults (DMS-E).
Measurement Year 2024
- Colorectal Cancer Screening (COL-E).
- Note: In HEDIS MY 2019, NCQA added the ECDS reporting standard to the Colorectal Cancer Screening (COL) measure for voluntary reporting, alongside traditional reporting. This allowed health plans to assess their ECDS reporting capabilities and compare performance using both methods. Reporting results and stakeholder feedback, including that of NCQA’s Committee on Performance Measurement (CPM) and Standards Committee, supported transitioning the COL measure to ECDS-only reporting in MY 2024. COL-E results will be publicly reported in 2025 and used in 2025 Health Plan Ratings. NCQA has released MY 2023 national averages by product line for the COL-E measure at our State of Health Care Quality Report.
- Cervical Cancer Screening (CCS-E).
- Childhood Immunization Status (CIS-E).
- Immunizations for Adolescents (IMA-E).
Transition to ECDS Reporting
NCQA added the ECDS reporting standard to seven existing HEDIS measures for voluntary reporting alongside their traditional counterparts. This allows health plans to assess their ECDS reporting capabilities using familiar measures. Based on reporting results to date and stakeholder feedback, NCQA has announced the transition of these measures to ECDS-only reporting for the following years:
Measurement Year 2023:
- Breast Cancer Screening (see this blog for more information).
Measurement Year 2024:
- Colorectal Cancer Screening (see this blog for more information).
- Follow-Up Care for Children Prescribed ADHD Medication.
- Metabolic Monitoring for Children and Adolescents on Antipsychotics.
Measurement Year 2025:
- Childhood Immunization Status.
- Immunizations for Adolescents.
- Cervical Cancer Screening.
NCQA continues to explore how electronic clinical data can be leveraged in more HEDIS quality measures in the future.
ECDS IN BRIEF
The ECDS reporting standard gives health plans a method for collecting and reporting standard electronic clinical data for HEDIS quality measurement and improvement.
The ECDS architecture was designed to help HEDIS implementers understand how technology might improve the efficiency of quality reporting while providing an incentive to connect to a broad array of actionable information from multiple sources.
HEDIS quality measures reported using ECDS inspire innovative use of electronic clinical data to document high-quality patient care.
The ECDS reporting standard represents a step forward in the evolution of HEDIS to accommodate the extensive information available in electronic datasets used for patient care and quality improvement.
TYPES OF ECDS DATA
Data systems that may be eligible for HEDIS ECDS reporting include, but are not limited to, member eligibility files, EHRs, clinical registries, HIEs, administrative claims systems, electronic laboratory reports (ELR), electronic pharmacy systems, immunization information systems (IIS) and disease/case management registries.
Data sources used for HEDIS ECDS reporting are categorized as follows:
- Electronic health record (EHR)/personal health record (PHR). Patient records that document a patient’s medical history, treatment plans, radiology and laboratory test results in digital format that can make the information available instantly and securely to authorized users.
- Health information exchange (HIE)/clinical registry. HIEs and clinical registries eligible for this reporting category include state HIEs, IIS, public health agency systems, regional HIEs (RHIO), Patient-Centered Data Homes™ or other registries developed for research or to support quality improvement and patient safety initiatives. Clinical registries may be sponsored by a government agency, nonprofit organization, health care facility or private company, and decisions regarding use of a registry’s data are the responsibility of the registry’s governing committee.4
- Case management system. A shared database of member information collected through a collaborative process of member assessment, care planning, care coordination or monitoring of a member’s functional status and care experience. Case management systems eligible for this category of ECDS reporting include any system developed to support the organization’s case/disease management activities, including activities performed by delegates.
- Administrative. Includes data from administrative claim processing systems for all services incurred (paid, suspended, pending, denied) during the period defined by each measure’s participation, as well as member management files, member eligibility and enrollment files, electronic member rosters, internal audit files and member call service databases.
Submit questions about HEDIS ECDS reporting through My NCQA.
ECDS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
See FAQs here.
- HEDIS® is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
- https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/10/16/2015-25597/2015-edition-health-information-technology-health-it-certification-criteria-2015-edition-base
- https://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/health-information-exchange/what-hie
- https://www.nih.gov/health-information/nih-clinical-research-trials-you/list-registries
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