Health databases are often quite complex and collectively represent both a major cost for healthcare providers and an area that is prone to significant errors.

But a new industry initiative—along with a new report produced by that initiative—hopes to tackle these problems where they arise.

The Provider Data Action Alliance, a group of more than 20 healthcare industry leaders organized by the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH), wants to improve both the workflow of provider data and its accuracy. In its new report An Industry Roadmap for Provider Data, the alliance specifies five recommendations for the provider ecosystem, including industry buy-in, a nonprofit governance structure, a standardized initial data set, engagement with regulators, and a formal measurement regimen.

“The Roadmap presents a collaborative approach for finally addressing the provider data challenge through industry alignment on a core set of principles, a vision for a healthy provider data ecosystem and recommendations for key steps forward,” the report states [PDF].

The push for the approach is in no small part because the health industry spends $2 billion annually on provider data services, but that data often is riddled with errors. To highlight the significance of the effort, feedback from more than 100 industry organizations was brought into the document.

The report emphasizes the need for “inclusive, multi-stakeholder participation and support” in making the idea a reality, something that CAQH Executive Director Robin Thomashauer emphasized in her comments.

“Inaccurate provider data has long been a significant challenge for healthcare,” Thomashauer said in a news release. “Individual providers, provider organizations, patients and health plans are all affected by this issue, and it requires a collaborative effort to achieve real change. This Roadmap lays the foundation for the actions required to move forward.”

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