NLM Launches Value Set Authority Center (VSAC)
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), in collaboration with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), has launched the NLM Value Set Authority Center (VSAC). Initially the VSAC will provide downloadable access to all official versions of vocabulary value sets contained in the 2014 Clinical Quality Measures. The value sets provide lists of the numerical values and individual names from standard vocabularies used to define the clinical concepts (e.g. diabetes, clinical visit) used in the quality measures. The content of the VSAC will gradually expand to incorporate value sets for other use cases, as well as for new measures and updates to existing measures.
Access to the Value Set Authority Center requires a free Unified Medical Language System® Metathesaurus License.
The NLM launch of the VSAC coincides with the CMS posting of the official 2014 Meaningful Use Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs).
NLM also provides the Data Element Catalog that identifies data element names (value set names) required for capture in Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology certified under the 2014 Edition of the ONC Standards and Certification Criteria.
New 2014 Clinical Quality Measure Resources
The following resources are available to help health care providers and vendors navigate the new 2014 Clinical Quality Measures
- NLM: Value Set Authority Center (VSAC)
Provides downloadable access to all official versions of vocabulary value sets contained in the 2014 Clinical Quality Measures. - AHRQ: United States Healthcare Knowledge Database (USHIK)
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s website with both Meaningful Use 1 and Meaningful Use 2 2014 eCQMs and other health information technology resources. This site provides a number of formats for viewing, downloading, and comparing versions of eCQMs and their value sets. - CMS: Guide for Reading Eligible Professional and Eligible Hospital 2014 eCQMs
Guidance for understanding and using the electronically specified eligible professional (EP) and eligible hospital (EH) clinical quality measures (“eMeasures”) published in 2012 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for Meaningful Use, Stage 2. - CMS: Release Notes
Updated program requirements related to the eCQMs, global changes incorporated across all measures as well as specific changes to the measures retained in the 2014 eCQMs. - CMS: 2014 Clinical Quality Measures Tipsheet
An overview of the CQMs, including the number of measures eligible professionals (EPs) and eligible hospitals (EHs) must report, CQM reporting options, and reporting and submission periods.
Questions? Contact NLM Value Set Authority Center Help
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