The ASTM International E31 Healthcare Informatics Committee and E31.28 Electronic Health Record Subcommittee advanced another step toward reaching consensus and having an ASTM-approved Standard Specification for the Continuity of Care Record (CCR). At its meeting on 26 April 2005, E31.28 successfully resolved a number of issues raised during the balloting period, by adding editorial clarifications, which will make the standard stronger and more easily understood.

The support for the CCR continues to grow, evidenced by the increasing E31 Committee membership, which includes clinicians, provider institutions, administrators, patient advocates, vendors, and others from throughout the healthcare industry, as well as strong support from the ASTM CCR sponsors, which collectively represent over 400,000 practitioners, over 13,000 IT professionals, over 200 IT companies, and over 12,000 institutions in the long-term care community that provide care to over 1.5 million elderly and disabled. Dr. Richard Peters, an emergency medicine physician, as well as an expert in healthcare IT, and a significant contributor to the CCR, stated, "ASTM’s E31.28 CCR Subcommittee sincerely appreciates the constructive feedback and technical input from the EHR, PEHR, and eprescribing vendors and the medical specialty societies and CCR sponsoring organizations."

At the meeting, several members voiced strong support for the CCR and the need to have the standard approved immediately in order to help improve patient care and reduce costs, but most importantly to help improve patient safety. Dr Stasia Kahn of Fox Prairie Medical Group, a practicing internist, outlined for the group how the CCR could serve multiple needs including communication between primary care physicians and consultants, allowing patients with multiple medical problems to travel out of state safely, and allowing patients to bring an electronic compilation of their most relevant medical record data with them when they move.

Dr. Joseph Schneider, Vice Chair of the Steering Committee on Clinical Information Technology at the American Academy of Pediatrics and a physician who until recently cared for newborns in a neonatal special care unit, encouraged the E31 members to move quickly to finalize the standard, saying that "without the CCR, when our ex-preemies and other infants with special needs were discharged from the nursery, we hoped that the paper that we gave to the parents describing their child’s condition would survive to the next physician or emergency room visit. From personal experience, I can tell you that, sadly, sometimes it didn’t. The consequences of not having a CCR to communicate critical information have on some occasions led to unnecessary and avoidable morbidity and mortality."

As for next steps, the Subcommittee is planning a meeting within the next 45 to 60 days to handle the remaining feedback received during the balloting period. If the remaining comments are successfully resolved, the standard should be approved and published this summer.

The ASTM standards development process and membership on Committee E31 is open to all interested parties. To join, visit the ASTM website at www.astm.org, click "membership," then "Join ASTM International" and complete the on-line application.Be sure to indicate that you want to join the E31 Committee on Healthcare Informatics and the E31.28 Subcommittee on Electronic Health Record. The cost is $75.00 per year for which you receive a free Volume of ASTM Standards (E31 Standards are found in Volume 14.01). If you select the Virtual Volume Format, you will have access to not only the existing standards, but also new standards as they are approved and revisions.

For more information, contact: C. Peter Waegemann, Chair, ASTM E31 Committee on Health Informatics, CEO, Medical Records Institute (phone: 617/964-3923,  Ext. 210; peterw@medrecinst.com); Claudia Tessier, Co-chair of ASTM E31.28 Subcommittee on EHR and Workgroup on Continuity of Care Record(phone: 202/319-3052; ctessi@attglobal.net); or Dan Smith, E31 staff manager (phone: 610/832-9727; dsmith@astm.org) with questions about membership and the CCR activity.

Founded in 1898, ASTM International is a not-for-profit organization that provides a global forum for the development and publication of voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, systems, and services. Over 30,000 individuals from 100 nations are the members of ASTM International, who are producers, users, consumers, and representatives of government and academia. In over 130 varied industry areas, ASTM standards serve as the basis for manufacturing, procurement, and regulatory activities. Formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM International provides standards that are accepted and used in research and development, product testing, quality systems, and commercial transactions around the globe.