AHRQ Publishes RFI on National Health Data Stewardship Entity
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published in the Federal Register a Request for Information (RFI) on the creation of a public-private national health care data stewardship organization with oversight of the various uses of healthcare data, outside of the care delivery setting.
Information gathered through the RFI process will be synthesized by the Agency and delivered back to the AQA, a multi-stakeholder organization focused on advancing performance measurement in healthcare, in which AHRQ plays a leadership role.
According to the RFI, the proposed mission of the National Health Data Stewardship Entity (NHDSE) is to set uniform operating rules and standards for sharing and aggregating public and private sector data on quality and efficiency. It may also offer guidance on implementing those operating rules, as well as provide a framework for collecting, aggregating and analyzing data.
The proposed scope of work would include creating and setting policies, rules and standards for data aggregation, data collection, attribution, methodologies for data aggregation, data analysis, data validation, uses of data, data access, and data sharing and reporting.
The RFI also lays out and asks for comment on a set of characteristics the proposed entity would reflect, including trustworthiness, transparency, responsiveness and collaboration.
Interested parties are also asked to provide input on a subset of twenty five questions in the RFI to help the Agency and the AQA understand key issues such as:
Overall need for such an entity
- Roles and responsibilities
- Relationships between the entity and other quality organizations
- Appropriate governance models, organizational skill sets required
- Essential external inputs
- Priority activities to support data sharing and aggregation
- The suitability of one or more existing organizations to fulfill the role.
Comments on the RFI are due July 27th, and no date for a subsequent RFP ahs been set. To view the RFI, click here.
