The Fourth PRO Scope of Work: automating the medical review process through the Uniform Clinical Data Set.

With the advent of the Fourth Scope of Work, peer review organizations are beginning to implement the Uniform Clinical Data Set, an automated medical review system designed to collect standardized data from Medicare medical records and provide a data base to determine the most effective treatment for a given illness or disease. In this article, the author discusses the Health Care Financing Administration's development of the Uniform Clinical Data Set and its proposed application within the context of the Health Care Quality Improvement Initiative and the Fourth Scope of Work.