Summary
Objective: To implement the SNOMED CT electronic specifications for reporting quality measures
and to identify critical issues that affect implementation.
Background: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) have issued the electronic specifications
for reporting quality measures requiring vendors and hospital systems to use standardized
data elements to provide financial incentives for eligible providers.
Methods: The electronic specifications from CMS were downloaded and extracted. All SNOMED
CT codes were examined individually as part of the creation of a mapping table for
distribution by a vendor for incorporation into electronic health record systems.
A qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the SNOMED CT codes was done as a follow
up to the mapping project.
Results: A total of 10643 SNOMED codes were examined for the 44 measures. The approved SNOMED
CT code sets contain aberrancies in content such as incomplete IDs, the use of description
IDs instead of concept IDs, inactive codes, morphology and observable codes for clinical
findings and the inclusion of non-human content.
Conclusion: Implementers of these approved specifications must do additional rigorous review
and make edits in order to avoid incorporating errors into their EHR products and
systems.
Keywords
SNOMED CT - electronic health records - national health policy
