CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Society for Vascular Surgery® Vascular Quality Initiative® (SVS VQI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving vascular quality within hospitals and outpatient facilities, today announced its partnership with Symmetric Health Solutions, for the purpose of elevating the consistency and integrity of medical device data utilized by vascular health professionals.

The partnership with Symmetric Health Solutions, an industry-leading software company for healthcare supply chain data, will enable SVS VQI to eliminate inaccuracies and variances in medical device reporting, which carry clinical consequences. It will also strengthen SVS VQI’s commitment to interoperability, by ensuring data is clean and consistent across all health system IT interfaces.

Physicians who use SVS VQI registries, powered by Fivos’ PATHWAYS Platform, will benefit from the availability of accurate, reliable, and consistent device information. Currently, 850+ healthcare organizations subscribe to SVS VQI registries, and count on Unique Device Identifier (UDI) and associated data from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) public portal — Access Global Unique Device Identification Database (AccessGUDID) — for making real-time decisions about vascular medical procedures, including complex surgeries.

Symmetric Health Solutions’ technology leverages advanced machine learning algorithms to surmount the data challenges that AccessGUDID users face. These include, but are not limited to:

No UDI on the device label
Different UDI-DIs for the same product
Difficulty matching a captured UDI-DI with the UDI-DI record in AccessGUDID
UDI-DI not found in AccessGUDID or missing catalog information
Variances in AccessGUDID data from missing information, poor formatting, etc.
Company name issues resulting from mergers and acquisitions
Inability to use GMDN terms as a way of grouping similar devices resulting from manufacturers incorrect assignments
Lack of automated feedback loops with FDA or manufacturer to resolve data quality issues
“The supply chain is the source of truth, and our job is to ensure the data we are getting from AccessGUDID is as clean and accurate as possible,” says Jim Wadzinski, Executive Director, Society for Vascular Surgery Patient Safety Organization (SVS PSO). “Previously, healthcare organizations experienced multiple problems with the FDA’s database in terms of entering information or being unsure of which data to use. This would lead to data discrepancies, which potentially would alter the scope of care. To support what the FDA is trying to do with promoting interoperability, we need the data to be completely accurate and consistent. Symmetric’s software can augment UDI data so we can use the solution across our registries.”

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