Abstraction Tool Honored with 2021 FedHealthIT Innovation Award; Westat Supported Development

The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Household Component (MEPS-HC) Health Policy Booklet (HPB) Abstraction Tool has won a 2021 FedHealthIT Innovation Award. This award honors and celebrates programs driving innovation and results across the Department of Veterans Affairs, Military Health, Health and Human Services, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The tool was developed by SoftDev, a Small Business Administration-certified HUBZone and economically disadvantaged, woman-owned small business, with Westat providing support. The award will be recognized virtually during the upcoming 7th Annual FedHealthIT Innovation Awards to be held June 22-23, 2021. 

Developed for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), this efficient data abstraction tool produces a robust, accurate, and actionable data source for AHRQ’s use. A cloud-based application abstracts data from a highly complex variation of unstandardized documentation using machine learning (ML), computer vision, and natural language processing (NLP). With a <2% error rate, the tool ensures data quality while also monitoring abstraction progress.

“The tool SoftDev created was a great solution for the task and has a lot of potential applications for other survey data processing activities,” notes Brad Edwards, a Westat Vice President and Director of Field Services.