Information about a person who participates or is expected to participate in the care of a patient.

Data Element
Care Team Member Telecom
Description (*Please confirm or update this field for the new USCDI version*)

Phone or email contact information for a care team member.

Applicable Vocabulary Standard(s)

Applicable Standards (*Please confirm or update this field for the new USCDI version*)
  • ITU-T E.123, Series E: Overall Network Operation, Telephone Service, Service Operation and Human Factors, International operation - General provisions concerning users: Notation for national and international telephone numbers, email addresses and web addresses (incorporated by reference in § 170.299)
  • ITU-T E.164, Series E: Overall Network Operation, Telephone Service, Service Operation and Human Factors, International operation - Numbering plan of the international telephone service: The international public telecommunication numbering plan
Submitted By: Keith W. Boone / Audacious Inquiry
Data Element Information
Use Case Description(s)
Use Case Description The provider telecom information can provide multiple methods to contact a provider (Direct address, phone number, FHIR endpoint, etc). Direct addresses or FHIR endpoints can be used to send notifications to the Patient's primary care or other (e.g., specialist) providers to meet CMS requirements for Notifications.
Estimate the breadth of applicability of the use case(s) for this data element Many stakeholders already use Direct to capture this data, but do not communicate it to other stakeholders in messages they exchange with others. It is used to communicate, and required to enable communication under ONC 21st Century Cures regulations in 45 CFR 170.315(b)(1)(i) which references Direct and Direct Edge Protocols at 45 CFR 170.202(a)(2) and 202(d). Other telecom information is frequently used to contact providers by a number of individuals.
Healthcare Aims
  • Improving patient experience of care (quality and/or satisfaction)
  • Improving the health of populations
  • Improving provider experience of care
Maturity of Use and Technical Specifications for Data Element
Applicable Standard(s) See standards and IGS selected in 45 CFR 170.202(a)(2) and 202(d)
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/45/170.202
Additional Specifications See standards and IGS selected in 45 CFR 170.202(a)(2) and 202(d), as well as https://www.hl7.org/fhir/practitioner-definitions.html#Practitioner.telecom
https://www.hl7.org/fhir/valueset-contact-point-system.html
Current Use This data element has been used at scale between multiple different production environments to support the majority of anticipated stakeholders
Supporting Artifacts It is required for certification. See chart for 170.315(b)(1)(i) at the link below.
https://chpl.healthit.gov/#/charts
Extent of exchange 5 or more. This data element has been tested at scale between multiple different production environments to support the majority of anticipated stakeholders.
Supporting Artifacts This identifier (e-mail address) is available through numerous directories, including Direct Trust, SureScripts, and there is a place for it in the NPPES.
https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/webhelp/nppeshelp/HEALTH%20INFORMATION%20EXCHANGE.html
Potential Challenges
Restrictions on Standardization (e.g. proprietary code) None
Restrictions on Use (e.g. licensing, user fees) None
Privacy and Security Concerns The Direct Address is a communication address for a provider. It is publicly available information through NPPES. Other telecom information is generally also publicly available.
Estimate of Overall Burden Providers communicating with other agencies through HL7 V2 Messages (e.g., ADT), CCDA Documents, or FHIR APIs would need to add a few lines code to the components sending these to a) retrieve when known the providers Direct address (e.g., through a Provider Directory), and then add this information to the message or document communication.
Other Implementation Challenges The biggest challenge would be the fact that often the Provider Directory Lookup component is used in a separate part of the application, and may not be immediately accessible to the message creation component.

Comment

Submitted by zbarber on

Provider Telecom

The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) supports the inclusion of a data element in the USCDI v2 that identifies the appropriate contact details or endpoints for the listed Care Team Members. While Provider Direct Address is valuable to capture for use cases that utilize Direct Edge Protocol, there are other methods of exchange (e.g. FHIR) that do not require a Direct Address.

Therefore, NYeC recommends modifying "Provider Direct Address" to "Provider Telecom," which is a broader element described as a “contact detail for the provider.” This element can capture a Direct Address, a FHIR endpoint, or another type of contact. FHIR v4 currently includes this element in the Practitioner Resource. The value set may include phone, fax, email, pager, URL, SMS, or other.

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