VHIE DATA QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Data Quality: 

J P Systems led a five-year initiative with the VHA VHIE office to improve clinical data quality for interoperability and decision support. Our team conducted strategic planning, user acceptance testing (UAT), C-CDA requirements analysis, and data quality improvement for JHIE. We analyzed data exchanged through the Joint DoD–VA Health Information Exchange (JHIE) to ensure accurate delivery and interpretation. This included evaluating how data flows between VHA, Cerner Millennium, DoD, and community care partners.

The Veterans Health Information Exchange (VHIE) Clinical Data Quality (CDQ) team ensures that exchanged clinical data supports patient safety and coordinated care. Sometimes, data in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is recorded inaccurately, creating major risks during external data exchange.

These inaccuracies can prevent patient matching, delay care, or introduce clinical errors with serious consequences. Although clinicians catch many issues, improving data quality remains critical for consistent, safe patient care.

Two recent cases highlight the impact of poor data quality.

First, Veteran Doe faced a medical emergency due to a wrong prescription dosage in his EHR. Upon hospital admission, the physician discovered the dosage was incorrect and had to be reduced immediately.

Second, Veteran Jones visited a VA physician while feeling ill. Due to mismatched patient identifiers, the VA system couldn’t access his external records.

As a result, the physician couldn’t view prior test results and had to repeat laboratory work. These cases show why the CDQ team’s work is essential to VA’s goal of becoming a High Reliability Organization (HRO). We strive to identify and correct data quality issues before they affect care delivery.