June 20, 2016 — Today, EMS Compass published a limited number of performance measures in the areas of stroke, seizure, and hypoglycemia and invited all members of the EMS community to set up these measures in their reporting or analytic software in order to provide real-world beta testing and feedback. The measures are available at emscompass.org/ems-compass-measures.
“After receiving a lot of great feedback during the public comment period that led to improvements, we are now ready to have some of the measures beta tested by local EMS agencies” said Dia Gainor, Executive Director of NASEMSO and EMS Compass Project Execution Group Chair.
“Learning about what challenges exist with the real-world implementation of the EMS Compass performance measures is what it is all about. We have been working towards this for a long time!” Gainor continued.
The public beta testing period for these measures is open through July 8, 2016. EMS agencies at the local, regional and state levels are encouraged to test these measures immediately and to provide feedback to EMS Compass on how these measures were meaningfully used to evaluate local performance. Comments should be submitted through the website, but specific questions about the measures may be sent to EMS Compass Project Manager Nick Nudell at nick@nasemso.org.
Between April 15 and May 6, 2016, EMS Compass held a public comment period for the entire stroke, seizure and hypoglycemia families of measures. During this time, EMS Compass received 70 comments from EMS administrators, paramedics, advocacy organizations, healthcare providers and more that led to refinements and improved measures. The measures prepared for testing are limited to those in which technical definitions were viable with readily available data.
EMS Compass plans on releasing more measures for public beta testing in the next three months. To make sure you are notified of opportunities to review, test and provide feedback on the measures and the measurement design and testing process, sign up to receive updates at emscompass.org.
About EMS Compass
The EMS Compass Initiative launched in 2014 with funding and guidance provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) through a cooperative agreement with NASEMSO. Although funded as a two-year project, the goal of EMS Compass is not just to create and evaluate performance measures, but to develop a system for designing performance measures that can live on well beyond the timeline of the current initiative.
The EMS Compass performance measures will be based on the latest National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) compliant data points and will allow EMS agencies to use local and state data meaningfully to improve care.
For more information about EMS Compass or to volunteer to be involved in the national effort, sign up to receive updates at emscompass.org, and follow the initiative on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@EMSCompass).
