Social Security Administration Approves of C32 Continuity of Care Document

The following was a press release from EHR Doctors Inc.  EHR Doctors, Inc. had a contract to deliver Electronic Health Records in CCD format to the Social Security Administration over the Nationwide Health Information Network. We have touched on this subject before on the blog. Please see the links following the press release to view additional stories about the SSA and its commitment to streamline the disability process by way of technology.

EHR Doctors announced in the past that the Social Security Administration (SSA) approved their C32 Continuity of Care Document (CCD). EHR Doctors, Inc. has a contract to deliver Electronic Health Records in CCD format to the Social Security Administration over the Nationwide Health Information Network.

The capability to generate CCDs is a critical piece of technology that hospitals need to meet the Meaningful Use requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The technology enables an interoperable health record that can be shared between organizations for purposes ranging from transitions in care to adjudication of insurance claims. EHR Doctors CCD technology is certified for Meaningful Use under the ONC-ATB program.

EHR Doctors’ contract with the Social Security Administration enabled SSA to use EHR Doctors’ Medibridge Health Information Exchange to electronically gather health records in support of disability claims, and get them rapidly into the hands of SSA adjudicators. This technology “will improve our disability programs and provide better service to the public,” said Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue. “The use of health IT will dramatically improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of this process, reducing the cost of making a disability decision for both the medical community and the American taxpayer,” he added.

The CCD is a standard developed by HL7, a health information technology standards body. The document consists of textual information, which ensures human interpretation of the document contents, and structured parts, which allow for software processing. The structured part is based on the HL7 Reference Information Model (RIM) and provides a framework for referring to concepts from coding systems from medical vocabularies such as ICD9, SNOMED, CPT, and LOINC.

EHR Doctors were pleased with the announcement. “Our unique approach to Health IT and Health Information Exchange will provide our partner hospitals with a valuable system for a fraction of the cost,” said Gerard Reeder, President of EHR Doctors. “This contract with Social Security is a remarkable opportunity to demonstrate the power of Health IT to transform health care at every level,” he added.

Additional Information:

• Two North Carolina Health Care Systems to Test North Carolina Health Exchange
• Social Security Administration Shows Benefits of Electronic File Transfer