The power of the DAV certification
In the earliest days of healthcare data collection, paper charts and filing cabinets kept at offices and hospitals were the norm. In the 1960s, the first electronic health records came into use, and by the 1990s these records became web-based, offering faster, easier access to patient information.
While these new technologies were hitting the market, the National Committee for Quality Assurance was formed. This non-profit sought to “improve health care quality through the administration of evidence-based standards, measures, programs, and accreditation.”
With this development, came many important programs, including the Data Aggregator Validation program, which we’re focusing on in this article.
What is the Data Aggregator Validation certification?
Developed in the mid-2000s by NCQA, the Data Aggregator Validation program evaluates a company’s management and exchange of health data. As part of the validation program, NCQA reviews the quality and integrity of data and the procedures used to manage and safeguard it, from ingestion at the primary source to transmission to the end-user.
What does this certification mean?
This certification means the company has shown it can support data stream validation through the Data Aggregator Validation program. With this validation, health plans, providers, government organizations, and others can trust that the company is able to meet the data requirements to support HEDIS® and other quality programs and reporting.
Why does data management and security matter?
There a several reasons that data management and security matter for healthcare, including:
- Patient privacy: Online records include tons of important information that can be used for identity theft and insurance fraud.
- Patient care: With accurate data sharing, healthcare professionals can more accurately ensure they’re working with all of the needed information for the best patient diagnosis, care, and outcomes.
How does this certification benefit our clients?
In the simplest words: It’s less work.
During the HEDIS® audit process, companies are required to have primary source verification. By working with DataLink, which has validated data steams by NCQA, our client’s data can be used as standard supplemental data in HEDIS reporting, eliminating the need for a PSV audit.
Not only does this save time, but it also saves money for provider organizations, health plans, and aggregators.
In June of 2024, DataLink revalidated its data stream status and added 2,000 new ingestion sites. This brings DataLink’s ingestion sites under our DAV program validated data steam close to 8,000.