Groups push for standardized clinical data elements
By HME News Staff
Updated 10:18 AM CDT, Mon October 16, 2023
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care recently joined five other respiratory care groups in sending a letter to CMS asking the agency to require Medicare contractors to use a standard clinical data element template for supplemental oxygen to ensure beneficiaries, prescribers and suppliers won’t be overburdened with audits.
While the groups say they appreciate that CMS has developed a pilot program for an e-clinical template for oxygen, the current focus on electronic interface will not be useful until the agency adopts standardized clinical data elements.
“While we were hopeful that the pilot would be the next step in achieving the goal of replacing medical record review with a set of standardized clinical data elements that would clearly indicate what information prescribers need to provide when ordering supplemental oxygen for their patients, it appears that the pilot is focusing on the electronic interface instead of the clinical data elements in the template and complicating what should be a straight-forward process,” the letter reads.
The groups urge CMS to delay adoption of a streamlined and transparent template while electronic data submission systems are being developed and, instead, use the existing CMS template (modified consistent with the community’s recommendations).
The CQRC joined AAHomecare, the American Association for Respiratory Care, the American Thoracic Society, the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), and The VGM Group in sending the letter.
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