WASHINGTON, April 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The CAQH®
Universal Provider Datasource® (UPD®) has registered its
900,000th provider firmly establishing it as the go-to resource for
complete and reliable self-reported data from physicians and other
healthcare professionals. Three out of five licensed and
practicing physicians in the country have signed up with the
service. About 7,000 additional providers are registering each
month. CAQH estimates that UPD reduces provider administrative
costs by $105 million a year.
“At a time when the electronic exchange of health information
has created new and expanded requirements for verifying provider
data, UPD is a key resource for accurate data to populate provider
directories for regional, state, and federal health information
exchanges,” said CAQH Executive Director Robin Thomashauer.
As adoption of electronic health records and health information
exchanges intensifies, it is important to eliminate administrative
redundancy and simplify data sharing. Broader use of UPD supports
those goals, particularly in relation to development of provider
directories, a focal point of an HIT Policy Committee workgroup
within the Office of the National Coordinator for Health
Information Technology. Last fall Sorin Davis, managing director of
UPD, provided testimony to the Committee’s Information Exchange
Workgroup, Provider Directory Task Force. Based on CAQH
experience, Davis emphasized that technical requirements for
provider directories should:
- Integrate data from sources that directly engage providers in
the collection process. - Enable direct communication with providers regarding data
maintenance. - Offer providers access that is free, simple and secure.
- Assure that data sources function with full transparency and
permit provider access and control of their information.
“While the role of provider directories in
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