A draft version of the continuity-of-care record standard may be ready for software vendors -- and then physicians -- very soon. The CCR standard could be released as a "draft standard for trial use," said Dan Smith, a manager at ASTM International, the company responsible for the standard's development. "ASTM is working to release the draft standard for sale to the general public in a matter of weeks," said Smith in mid-May.
Portable Patient Health Record Coming Soon
By Sheri Porter
5/17/2005
Once released, the CCR standard can be tested and used in the real world. "The release of the draft standard is an attempt to raise the level of awareness about the content and to seek broader input into the further development of the standard," said Smith.
The CCR is a portable "snapshot in time" of patient health data. It incorporates information including the date and purpose of the patient encounter; the reason for referral; patient insurance and financial information; patient health status, including diagnoses, allergies, current medications and lab results; and details on recent patient-clinician encounters.
Details about the CCR initiative are available through the Academy's Center for Health Information Technology. Historical background about the development of the CCR is available through earlier AAFP news department coverage.
The request to release the CCR standard sooner rather than later came at an April 26 meeting of the committee and subcommittee charged with sifting through comments of all voting members, about 185 people. The panels are addressing negative comments and making editorial clarifications to the standard to make it stronger.
According to an ASTM news release, several committee members at the April 26 meeting "voiced strong support for the CCR and the need to have the standard approved immediately in order to help improve patient care and reduce costs, but most importantly, to help improve patient safety."
David Kibbe, M.D., director of the AAFP's CHiT and a voting member of the group working on the standard, said the work has been slow but thorough. "CCR has not failed, and the process for approval is moving along," he said. "The value of the draft standard is that the EHR vendors can begin to utilize the standard." That's important, Kibbe added, because most software vendors have been holding off on product development until they had the standard.
Steven Waldren, M.D., assistant director of CHiT, said physicians he has talked to were eager to use the CCR in their practices. "The CCR will impact the care physicians can deliver to their patients within our fragmented health care system," he said.
The CCR is a portable "snapshot in time" of patient health data. It incorporates information including the date and purpose of the patient encounter; the reason for referral; patient insurance and financial information; patient health status, including diagnoses, allergies, current medications and lab results; and details on recent patient-clinician encounters.
Details about the CCR initiative are available through the Academy's Center for Health Information Technology. Historical background about the development of the CCR is available through earlier AAFP news department coverage.
The request to release the CCR standard sooner rather than later came at an April 26 meeting of the committee and subcommittee charged with sifting through comments of all voting members, about 185 people. The panels are addressing negative comments and making editorial clarifications to the standard to make it stronger.
According to an ASTM news release, several committee members at the April 26 meeting "voiced strong support for the CCR and the need to have the standard approved immediately in order to help improve patient care and reduce costs, but most importantly, to help improve patient safety."
David Kibbe, M.D., director of the AAFP's CHiT and a voting member of the group working on the standard, said the work has been slow but thorough. "CCR has not failed, and the process for approval is moving along," he said. "The value of the draft standard is that the EHR vendors can begin to utilize the standard." That's important, Kibbe added, because most software vendors have been holding off on product development until they had the standard.
Steven Waldren, M.D., assistant director of CHiT, said physicians he has talked to were eager to use the CCR in their practices. "The CCR will impact the care physicians can deliver to their patients within our fragmented health care system," he said.
