In an effort to improve data quality, approving your data as the final step of the data submission process each quarter is MANDATORY.  This step is required prior to your data being sent to System 13.  Once your data has been approved by the hospital it can be transferred to THCIC (System 13).  Please refer to the Compass calendar for the deadline to approve your data each quarter: THA Compass 2021 Data Submission Deadlines. 


In the 4q2020 collection period, 53% of facilities in the Compass program approved their data in the Star platform.  While many of you are performing this important approval step, we have much room for improvement.  Reviewing and approving your data are crucial steps to catching mistakes before they flow downstream and out of our program where they become much harder and more complicated to clean up and correct. 


Prior to clicking the approve button each quarter, a thorough review of your data should be performed. The Star platform provides users with multiple downloadable reports that can be used to confirm your data is complete and accurate.  Below are examples of a few steps that should be taken PRIOR to finalizing your data in the Star platform.



Download and review the Error Summary and Error Detail Reports


The Error Summary report shows you a quick snapshot of your data’s health grouped by error name and discharge month.


As the name suggests, the Error Detail report shows record specific details such as PCN and MRN to help you identify these records in your EMR to aid in the corrections process.  This report also shows you the current value in the field that caused the error to fire.


Reminder:

  • There are 2 error types in the Star platform – fatal and warning.  
  • Fatal errors are programmed to match the rules set by THCIC and these fatal errors count towards your facilities “Error Rate” listed in Star.
  • Warning errors are programmed with a focus on data quality and to help users identify possible problems in their data. 
  • The Compass rule is for all facilities to be below 3% fatal errors prior to approving data each quarter.
  • The THCIC rule requires a 0% fatal error rate for their program, so any errors left if your data when it is transferred to System 13 must be corrected before the THCIC deadline for corrections each quarter.  More information about the THCIC rules and deadlines are found here:  THCIC Facility Reporting Requirements


Download and review the Unapproved Data Quality Reports



The data quality report is a spreadsheet with multiple tabs showing a count of records broken down into helpful categories, such as discharges by:

  • Discharges by month
  • Payer type
  • Patient Ethnicity
  • Patient Race
  • Patient Sex
  • Patient Age
  • Admission Type
  • Discharge status
  • LOS

 

Compare the numbers in this report to numbers from your EMR to ensure your data for the quarter is complete and accurate. 



Questions to consider each quarter prior to approving your data:


  • Have all of my claims data files been submitted to Star?
  • Does the record count in Star match the record count in my EMR for the quarter?
  • Has our team corrected as many of the fatal errors in the data as possible?
  • Is our facility fatal error rate below 3% in the Star platform?
  • Is our team prepared to correct any remaining fatal errors downstream at System 13 prior to the THCIC deadlines?
  • Does anything in the Data Quality Report look "off"?  (e.g., 100% of patients reported as the same sex or age group would be a red flag) 
  • Does the breakdown in the Data Quality Report match the information in our EMR?


Once your team has gone through this checklist and are confident your data is complete and no further changes are necessary, please follow the process to approve your data in Star.  The PDF attached at the bottom of this article shows how to approve data in Star.  Approved data will be packaged and sent to System 13 in the next available submission batch.  


Thank you all for your hard work and dedication to ensuring your data is complete and accurate.  Taking these important steps prior to approving your data means less work for your team downstream in other platforms and strengthens the Compass program for the benefit of all members.