The NC HIEA has earned the Validated Data Stream designation through the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Data Aggregator Validation program for the 2025 cohort. NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization that accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. The NCQA Data Aggregator Validation program provides confirmation that the data in NC HealthConnex is aligned with the data in the participating health system's electronic health record.
Four organizations partnered with the NC HIEA to undergo the validation process this year, including returning partner UNC Health and net new participants Kintegra Health, Western NC Community Health Services and Generations Family Practice, PA.
A total of four outpatient and one inpatient data streams earned validation after undergoing a rigorous, end-to-end look at the quality and integrity of data and the procedures used to manage and safeguard it.
Achieving this designation means that payers such as NC Medicaid can look to the state-designated health information exchange, NC HealthConnex as a single, trusted source of data coming from these organizations. In the future, health care systems who successfully complete the Data Aggregator Validation program do not have to go through a time-consuming validation process for quality reporting measures every time a payer wants to use their data.
The NC HIEA successfully doubled participation in the 2025 cohort with plans to continue expanding in coming years. If you are interested in becoming a participant, contact us at hms.hiea@nc.gov.