Partners HealthCare makes EHR clinical data publicly available

"EHR data is a better reflection of clinical care," he said. "There are a lot of limitations to claims data. The data can be years old … and they lack clinical nuance."

In order for consumers to view the EHR data, Partners built a tool in the system's Epic EHR that automatically categorizes and assesses information logged by clinicians into the EHR system. The data are on a variety of conditions like blood pressure control, diabetes care, depression, cancer screening and stroke care. Partners began its systemwide implementation of Epic in 2015, and it was completed in 2017.

However, the data don't provide a benchmark to compare Partners' performance treating these conditions to other providers. Sequist said Partners is currently unable to establish a benchmark because no other health systems are publicly reporting this EHR data. "We hope this will spur other health systems to show their EHR data," he said.

Sequist said the physicians and other providers are supportive of logging the clinical data into the EHR because they are able to use it for quality improvement and compare their performance to their peers. The doctors also trust the EHR data more than the claims data because they have control over how it's reported. "Now they think the numbers are correct because they've been able to participate in the measurement," he said.

The health system hasn't made many efforts to inform its patients that this information is available online yet because it wants to display it in a more consumer-friendly way. The data can be accessed through a link on Partners homepage called "Our commitment to quality and safety, See our performance reports."