Care Team Member(s)

Clarifying provider vs care team member

The Draft USCDI V2 added two new data elements Provider Name and Provider Identifier. It is unclear how relate to the other existing data element Care Team Members. Clearly providers are members of the care team, so there is overlap in meaning. The Data Class description doesn't hint at what the intended significance might be, but the term "provider" has a wide range of legal, regulatory, and colloquial meanings. In the context of USCDI, the distinctions of a person's credentials, roles, etc. would best be handled as other attributes (some of which can derived from the data linked to the identifier). Therefore, I recommend simplifying the Data Elements in this Class down to only two for now: Care Team Member Name and Care Team Member Identifier. Many, but not all, care team members will have an identifier (e.g. an NPI). Thus, we should consider Care Team Member Identifier as a "must support" data element: send it if you've got it, but would not be required in every instance since not every person will have one. Last, the data class should add a clarifying statement about whether organizations are specifically excluded from being represented here. The definition seems clear that it is about "specific person(s)" but since the NPI, for example, can represent either organizations or individuals, the extra clarity would be useful.

The intent is that Care Team…

The intent is that Care Team Members (the data class) capture a broad range of people (licensed, unlicensed, family, etc.) involved in that patient's care. However, it is redundant and confusing to list both Care Team Members and Providers, as providers can be considered Care Team Members, or providers can be facilities or organizations. If the intent is that the data class capture each health care professional involved in the delivery of patient care, we would suggest that the data elements be renamed and simplified to:

• Care Team Member Name (with credentials)
• Care Team Member ID (this should be optional, as not all health care professionals have a NPI, and the data type should/would allow you to send multiple ids...NPI, DEA number, local, etc.).

We also recommending adding this data element (currently in Level 2):

• Care Team Member Role (relationship between the Care Team Member and a particular patient)

 

Patient and other individuals are part of a care team too

Patient name and Related Person Name also need to be included as data elements within the care team members data class.