Summary

Description

The National Patient Care Database (NPCD), located at the Austin Information Technology Center, is part of the National Medical Information Systems (NMIS). The NPCD collects integrated patient care data from all Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) IT systems. Data recorded in the VistA Patient Care Encounter (PCE) package, which captures clinical data resulting from ambulatory care patient encounters is transmitted to the NPCD using the Ambulatory Care Reporting (ACR) Module of the VistA Patient Information Management System (PIMS) package. The Ambulatory Care Reporting Module provides necessary information on patient treatment, what services were rendered to patients, who provided the services, and whether services reported were synchronized with the VA medical center database. Directive 2006-026 (05/05/2006) required the inclusion to patient care data capture requirements the capture of inpatient encounters for patients seen in outpatient clinics and inpatient billable professional services.Additionally, NPCD includes VistA Spinal Cord Dysfunction (SCD) package and Primary Care Management Module (PCMM) data. The SCD central registry in NPCD is used to provide VA-wide review of patient demographics, clinical aspects of injury and disease, and resource utilization involved in providing care to patients. As of October 2010, data for the Spinal Cord Dysfunction is being maintained in the Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders Outcomes (SCIDO) database; current SCD data in NPCD is residual data only. The data load and extraction process for SCD data in NPCD will be discontinued in FY12. The PCMM data in NPCD includes primary care patient to provider assignments and provider utilization data.The NPCD is used by Veterans Health Administration (VHA) program offices for a wide variety of tasks to include research and budget allocation to medical centers.