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What is the UTC?
The UDS Test Cooperative (UTC) is a voluntary group of representatives from health centers, Primary Care Associations (PCAs), Health Center Control Networks (HCCNs), National Training and Technical Assistance Partners (NTTAPs), and Health Information Technology (HIT) vendors.
The UTC tests proposed innovations to the UDS and helps BPHC better understand how these changes might affect health centers. The results and recommendations from these tests inform decisions on implementing and scaling innovations across the Health Center Program as part of the UDS Modernization Initiative.
We encourage all health centers, PCAs, HCCNs, and HIT vendors that support health centers to join the UTC. You are welcome to join the UTC to receive program information even if you do not plan to voluntarily submit UDS+ data for 2023 reporting. Join the UTC using the BPHC Contact Form (Uniform Data System (UDS) > UDS Modernization > Join the UDS Test Cooperative).
Goals
The UTC aims to:
- Pilot innovations before scaling them to assess their implementation feasibility.
- Engage a range of UDS stakeholders to ensure that input on UDS modernization efforts are being considered from diverse perspectives (e.g., health centers representing different geographic locations, sizes, and electronic health record systems).
- Ensure that UDS stakeholders are actively involved in identifying and testing new UDS innovations.
Current activities and testing
HRSA and the UTC continue to seek volunteers from health centers, PCAs, HCCNs, and HIT vendors to engage in UDS+ proof of concept and data testing activities.
Our goals with UDS+ testing are:
- Onboard participants and confirm their ability to connect to HRSA servers and submit appropriate data files.
- Test HIT vendor’s ability to submit data files that conform with the UDS+ Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources® (FHIR) Implementation Guide (IG) and the HRSA FHIR server’s ability to receive data from participant sites. The IG provides architectural details and technical reporting specifications for UDS+.
- Collect feedback from testing participants about challenges and opportunities, and share insights and lessons learned with the UTC.
- Ensure the accuracy and validity of UDS+ data elements.
If your organization or HIT vendor is interested in volunteering to be a UDS+ tester, please communicate your interest to HRSA using the BPHC Contact Form (Uniform Data System (UDS) > UDS Modernization > Join the UDS Test Cooperative).
Past activities
Since 2019, the UTC has:
- Tested the feasibility and impact of aligning the UDS with electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs).
- Determined whether reported UDS CQM performance is meaningfully influenced by including non-routine patients and visits in CQM data.
- Explored the feasibility and impact of leveraging health data standards to define countable visits.
- Tested the feasibility and impact of leveraging health data standards to define diagnosis and service codes in Table 6A.
Operations
The UTC is led by a steering committee of representatives from each of the ten U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regions. Steering committee members represent a health center, a PCA, or an HCCN. The committee is led by two co-chairs.
The UTC Steering Committee is tasked with:
- Serving as the primary UTC collaborative body and advancing the goals of the UTC regions they represent.
- Serving as a liaison for PCA, HCCNs and health centers.
- Working closely with UTC chairs to provide strategic and tactical guidance on test planning and implementation.
The UTC holds monthly meetings that cover UDS+ project updates, stakeholder feedback, and answers to frequently asked questions. The UTC currently meets on the third Wednesday of the month, 2 – 3 p.m. ET.
Upcoming meeting dates include:
- Wednesday, May 15
- Wednesday, June 12, 4 – 5 p.m. ET (Moved to a different date and time due to the federal holiday on June 19)
UTC members can log into our Health Center Program Community (HCPC) to watch recordings from previous meetings and register for upcoming meetings. The HCPC is an online platform for participants in specific BPHC programs to get timely updates, interact with other health centers, and access training and technical assistance resources.
If your organization is a health center, PCA, HCCN, or NTTAP, you may request access to the HCPC through the BPHC Contact Form (Uniform Data System (UDS) > UDS Modernization > Join the UDS Test Cooperative).