Submitted by NCQA on
NCQA Comment on Diagnostic Imaging Test: for USCDI v5
- Diagnostic Imaging Test:
NCQA recommends updating the terminology to include CPT, SNOMED, ICD-PCS in addition to LOINC, which represent terminology routinely used to capture diagnostic imaging tests, such as CT scans and mammography.
Submitted by bbialecki on
ACR USCDI Draft V5 Comments - Diagnostic Imaging
The ACR continues its recommendation that ONC elevate USCDI Diagnostic Imaging Level 2 elements Accession Number, Imaging Reference, and Requested Procedure Identifier to USCDI v5. While the report availability is appreciated, the images themselves are critical to patient outcomes in many critical situations. Even though the images themselves are stored in external systems such as PACS or VNAs, the EHR must store references to enable the continuum of care both within a healthcare system and across systems since patients inevitably transition institutions both by choice and in critical care situations. It is especially important during these critical care situations such as mass casualty or emergency transfer to facilities with acute care capabilities, where seconds matter and having imaging prior to arrival can be crucial in a patient’s outcome. The Level 2 elements for Diagnostic Imaging provide these references and make immediate access possible both with a facility and outside the enterprise.
DICOMweb and IHE Web Based Image Access (WIA) are clear mechanisms that can be leveraged within a facility. The addition of capabilities that have been specified and tested as part of the Argonaut Project SMART Imaging Access project as well as IHE Internet User Authorization (IUA) and Cross-Enterprise User Assertion (XUA) profiles, extend DICOMweb and WIA outside the enterprise. IUA has been tested by at least 26, and XUA at least 73 vendors at IHE Connectathons based on a web search of the testing results. These include vendors which represent both EHR and PACS/VNA space. These standardized, profiled, and tested capabilities enable cross enterprise sharing of imaging which can be further advanced by the elevation of USCDI Diagnostic Imaging Level 2 elements Accession Number, Imaging Reference, and Requested Procedure Identifier to USCDI v5, thus immediately improving patient outcomes.