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New alliance of healthcare leaders to work on improving provider data accuracy

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The Provider Data Action Alliance, a U.S.-based non-profit cross-section of healthcare leaders, in July 2017 began work on a wide-ranging effort to improve the accuracy of provider data for industry stakeholders and patients.

The alliance, which represents health, dental and vision plans; provider organizations, health systems, government and health information exchanges, has developed a roadmap that articulates actionable strategies and vision for obtaining and sharing high-quality provider information that is essential to conducting many of healthcare’s foundational processes such as paying claims and producing provider directories.

The healthcare industry as a whole spends an estimated $2 billion annually, yet despite considerable investment in attaining and managing that data, inaccurate information is commonplace. For example, a report released earlier this year by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that 45.1 percent of practice locations listed in online provider directories were incorrect.

The Alliance intends to develop strategies to address these challenges, including managing data that changes frequently due to practice location moves, retirement, or other life events. While requirements for data collection vary depending on the stakeholder and state regulations, the need to increase provider engagement in the maintenance process is a key issue and focus of the Alliance – which will explore how best to develop industry-accepted data definitions, improve maintenance processes and accountability measures, centralize data resources and foster greater regulatory alignment.

The Alliance came about as a result of the 2016 Provider Data Summit, a conference hosted by the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH). Attendees reached agreement on the priorities for improving provider data and called for further industry-wide collaboration. CAQH will facilitate the work and development of the roadmap with the Alliance through the summer, with release scheduled for fall 2017.

The CAQH is a non-profit organization incorporated as a mutual benefit corporation that is based in Washington, D.C..Its mission is to accelerate the transformation of business processes in healthcare through collaboration, innovation and a commitment to ensuring value across stakeholders, including healthcare providers, trade associations, and health plans.

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