Online Program

333624
Assessing Readiness for Interoperability in Family Planning for the Purposes of Quality Reporting


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 5:10 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Lauren Corboy, MPH, Office of Population Affairs, Rockville, MD
Johanna Goderre, MPH, Office of Population Affairs, Rockville, MD
Julie Hook, MPH, John Snow, Inc., Boston, MA
Michael Stelmach, MBA, John Snow, Inc., Boston, MA
Christina Lachance, MPH, Office of Population Affairs, HHS, Rockville, MD
The Title X National Family Planning Program, administered by HHS’s Office of Population Affairs (OPA), helps individuals determine the number and spacing of their children by providing comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services to eligible clients.

Data from 8 million visits are currently aggregated from 95 grantees to compile the Family Planning Annual Report (FPAR). OPA is transforming FPAR by adding performance-oriented data elements and planning for an interoperable, encounter-level system (FPAR 2.0) where de-identified data will be derived from electronic health records. The goals are to enable more timely and accurate monitoring, lessen the data aggregation burden on grantees, and provide performance feedback for the purposes of quality improvement.

To prepare for the transition, OPA awarded a contract to assess grantees’ ability to collect and report the proposed FPAR 2.0 dataset. Feasibility case studies were conducted using mixed methods approaches including surveys, data element crosswalks, and qualitative interviews.

Nine service sites, from 9 HHS regions, reported their data collection processes. Sites ranged in type and included 5 health departments, 2 FQHCs, one Planned Parenthood, and one standalone clinic. Each site used different systems for current FPAR reporting (some electronic, some paper-based). Preliminary findings revealed only 10 of the 35 FPAR 2.0 data elements already being collected by all 9 sites in a manner fully-compliant with FPAR 2.0. Collection processes for the remaining elements varied widely across sites, with new elements (e.g., pregnancy intention) being most problematic.

Case studies revealed a great deal of variation in the preparedness of the sampled sites to collect and report the anticipated FPAR 2.0 data set interoperably; information critical to planning next steps so OPA can anticipate grantee technical assistance needs. Further analyses are being completed and a rich set of findings will be presented and used to inform the systems transition.

Learning Areas:

Communication and informatics
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines

Learning Objectives:
Explain the importance of modernizing the Title X data collection and reporting processes to leverage interoperability. Describe the data collection and reporting challenges currently facing the Title X network and OPA. Identify potential obstacles facing both OPA and the Title X network in the transition to interoperable FPAR 2.0 reporting.

Keyword(s): Family Planning, Quality Improvement

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the team lead who developed the contract sponsoring the assessment and responsible for the final deliverables and analysis of the data collected. I have 15 years of public health programmatic and research experience working in a variety of content areas. I received my MPH from Boston University.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.