RE: [xspa] Purpose Of Use Observation/Suggestion

Adam,

The purpose of use in XSPA and NHIN is exclusively for identifying the correct policy set to be used for a specific request. It is not a general purpose label for attributes of the data.

So use for Treatment, payment, Emergency purposes clearly call up different policy sets for which the patient consent for the use of that data may also be different.

We could definitely consider the purposes you mention, however, we would need to see a use case and clarification of how the POU you propose would be needed trigger a different policy set.

Regards, Mike Davis, CISSP

Department of Veterans Affairs

CHIO Emerging Health Technologies

Security Architect

760-632-0294

From: Adam Stone [mailto:adam1840@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 9:35 AM
To: xspa@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [xspa] Purpose Of Use Observation/Suggestion

All,

At some point, I will stop apologizing for my ignorance. Hopefully, this is the proper way to bring up an observation/suggestion for the XSPA standard.

I note that the current list of values in the Purpose of Use does not contain values for "quality" or "legal hold". Though I recognize that both could (conceivably) be embedded or implied under "operations," my experience tells me that highlighting these two additional categories could add practical value to the standard.

My rationale is this:

1. Government demand for Quality reporting measures will, in my opinion, increase over time. We are already seeing this in the HHS ONC "meaningful use" standards - as qualified professionals and hospitals will be increasingly required to report certain metrics as a condition to receiving stimulus grant funding.

2. With respect to Legal Hold, I have found that having an electronic mechanism available to isolate specific medical records is particularly helpful in managing current or pending legal issues.

I am interested in the group's perspective on this observation/suggestion.

Many Regards,
Adam Stone

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