John D D'Amore

Publications of John D D'Amore

• How the Continuity of Care Document Can Advance Medical Research and Public Health.

  Authors: John D D'Amore, Dean F Sittig, Roberta B Ness

  American journal of public health. 03/2012;

  Electronic health records in the United States currently isolate digital information in proprietary, institutional databases. Experts have identified inadequate data exchange as a leading challengeElectronic health records in the United States currently isolate digital information in proprietary, institutional databases. Experts have identified inadequate data exchange as a leading challenge to advancements in care quality and efficiency. Recent federal health information technology incentives adopt an extensible standard, called the Continuity of Care Document (CCD), as a new basis for digital interoperability. Although this instrument was designed for individual provider communications, the CCD can be effectively reused for population-based research and public health. Three examples in this commentary demonstrate the potential of CCD aggregation and highlight required changes to existing public health and research practices. Transitioning to the use of this new interoperability standard should be a priority for public health investment, research, and development. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print March 15, 2012: e1-e4. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300640).

• The promise of the CCD: challenges and opportunity for quality improvement and population health.

  Authors: John D D'Amore, Dean F Sittig, Adam Wright, M Sriram Iyengar, Roberta B Ness

  AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings / AMIA Symposium. AMIA Symposium. 01/2011; 2011:285-94.

  Interoperability is a requirement of recent electronic health record (EHR) adoption incentive programs in the United States. One approved structure for clinical data exchange is the continuity ofInteroperability is a requirement of recent electronic health record (EHR) adoption incentive programs in the United States. One approved structure for clinical data exchange is the continuity of care document (CCD). While primarily designed to promote communication between providers during care transitions, coded data in the CCD can be re-used to aggregate data from different EHRs. This provides an opportunity for provider networks to measure quality and improve population health from a consolidated database. To evaluate such potential, this research collected CCDs from 14 organizations and developed a computer program to parse and aggregate them. In total, 139 CCDs were parsed yielding 680 data in the core content modules of problems, medications, allergies and results. Challenges to interoperability were catalogued and potential quality metrics evaluated based on available content. This research highlights the promise of CCDs for population health and recommends changes for future interoperability standards.