ACC/AHA 2013 Methodology for Developing Clinical Data Standards

The use of standardized language is essential for all communication in medicine, with the ultimate goal of improved patient care. This is the driving force for enhanced use of clinical data and standardization of the lexicon of cardiovascular medicine to enhance the use of clinical data. This update of the 2007 methodology paper aims to do the following:

• Describe recent changes in the methods for construction of data elements;
• Clarify the current policies of the ACC and AHA regarding relationships of Task Force and Writing Group members with industry and other entities;
• Describe the need for harmonization of data across organizations and discipline;
• Articulate our position on the stewardship of cardiovascular terminology and the data concepts thereof; and
• Describe our roles and approaches to accelerating the interoperability of cardiovascular data across the clinical, research, industry, registry, regulatory, administrative, and public domains. Discusses management of risk factors and other secondary prevention strategies in older adults with ASCVD.