HL7 Balloting opens on eMeasure Specification

In June of this year HL7 approved a project to create a new standard to define the structure and format of quality measure definitions. The first draft of this standard is now open for review and balloting through the HL7 Ballot web site. I was supposed to be the modeling facilitator for this project, but given the very short time frame in which these materials were put together, Bob Dolin did most of the work on the modeling. I'm impressed with the progress that has occured with this ballot in a very short period of time.

See the message from the project team below which I've reproduced below without the e-mail addresses (to prevent harvesting by spam-bots). If you want to contact the project team, just leave a comment here and I will forward it along, or you can find e-mail addresses for Bob Dolin and Liora Alshuler on the Structured Documents home page.

Announcement

The HL7 Health Quality Measure Format (HQMF) ballot is now open. Industry stakeholders are encouraged to review and vote on this draft standard.

What is HQMF?
The HQMF is a standard for representing a health quality measure as an electronic document. Through standardization of a measure's structure, metadata, definitions and logic, the HQMF provides for quality measure consistency and unambiguous interpretation. A health quality measure encoded in the HQMF format is referred to as an "eMeasure."

The development of this specification was supported by volunteer efforts and through a National Quality Forum (NQF, http://www.qualityforum.org/) contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to promote the effective use of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. The initiative aims to significantly improve the quality and efficiency of patient care by making possible the capture and reporting of quality measure information for physicians and other health care providers.

The HQMF (eMeasure) specification and supporting documentation is publicly available at http://www.hl7.org/v3ballot/html/domains/uvqm/uvqm.htm .

Ballot Overview
On September 2, 2009, NQF will host a free webinar to provide an overview of ballot content for the eMeasure. You are welcome and encouraged to participate. Please visit the URL below to register for the event.

• September 2, 2009, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET (US)
• https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/518144856

Ballot Pool Signup
Pool sign up is currently available and will remain available from now until September 7, 2009, one week before Ballot Pool close date. To sign up, direct your browser to http://www.hl7.org/ctl.cfm?action=ballots.home.

If you wish to vote on the HQMF specification, you must join the ballot pool. Please note the following important dates.

• Ballot Pool Signup Period: Now until September 7, 2009
• Ballot Open Date: August 10, 2009
• Ballot Close Date: September 14, 2009

Supporting Documentation:

• Non-member Paid Participation in HL7 Ballots http://www.hl7.org/documentcenter/ballots/2009sep/announcements/Paid%20Participation%20in%20HL7%20Ballots%20Instructions.pdf
• HL7 Announcement of Formation of Ballot Pools for September 2009 Ballot Cycle
  http://www.hl7.org/documentcenter/ballots/2009sep/announcements/Formation%20of%20Ballot%20Pools%20for%20September%202009%20Ballot%20Cycle.pdf

Please feel free to contact any one of us if you have questions during the HQMF ballot cycle.

Sincerely,
HQMF Core Project Team

• Bob Dolin
• Crystal Kallem
• Liora Alschuler
• Floyd Eisenberg
• Thomas Murray
• Gay Giannone
• Rick Geimer