The VEPSER system is a web-based application that facilitates voluntary reporting of patient safety events. It allows healthcare providers to submit safety event reports and includes tools for quality managers to analyze reports, identify root causes, and track follow-up actions. The system guides users through the reporting process, integrates with external data sources, and generates reports that comply with the AHRQ Common Formats standard. It also includes a report designer interface to customize existing reports or create new ones.

1. VEPSER
Voluntary Electronic Patient Safety Event Reporting
https://www.vepser.com
Developed By
Team IOSTREAM
Reporting Patient Safety Events Challenge
ONC i2 Challenge Submission

2. VEPSER Description:
The VEPSER (Voluntary Electronic Patient Safety Event Reporting) website facilitates the
voluntary collection, analysis and reporting of patient safety event information. The website has
two entry points. The first entry point is for providers to use to submit information about patient
safety events. The second entry point is for quality and risk management staff to manage the
provider’s report submission, complete root cause analysis, follow-up action plans, design
additional reports, and track submission of the data to Patient Safety Organizations and other
agencies. Both entry points require a user account for authentication.
VEPSER Features:
 Generates an xml formatted report based on the AHRQ’s Common Formats v1.2
standard.
 The interface guides the reporter through the data entry and submission process and
assists them by determining which reports and questions they need to answer.
 Provides support for root cause analysis and follow-up action plans.
 Provides a report designer interface that can be used to create new reports or modify
existing ones.
 Provides a state management model for the reports that tracks the data entry, submission,
and approval process.
 Provides a report folder system to organize all of the data associated with the patient
safety event and provides a pathway for the reporter to communicate with the quality and
risk management team.
 Permits a reporter to complete the submission process over multiple browser sessions.
 Supports importing an HL7 v3 Patient Demographics Query Response
 Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript) is used to send and receive data in the background
between the user's web browser and the VEPSER web site.
 Supports importing demographic data from an EMR system that can output HL7 v3
Patient Demographics Query Responses.
 Supports uploading files into the patient safety event report folder

3. Provider Interface
The provider interface is designed to walk the user through the process of submitting patient
safety event reports. The information about an event is collected using multiple forms which are
organized into a report folder. Tasks are created and assigned to the user for each report that
needs to be submitted. As the user progresses through the reporting process the tasks are marked
as complete.
The reporters can lookup codes for ICD-9, ICD-10, and RxNORM. They can also import
demographic data from an EMR system that can output HL7 v3 Patient Demographics Query
Responses. The risk management staff can follow the reporter’s progress and provide assistance
if needed. Information can be shared between the reporter and the risk management staff through
the use of notes. After submission of each report, the quality and risk management staff can
review what was entered. If the staff wants the reporter to provide additional information they
can request a revision. Otherwise, they can accept the report and it will become read-only
through the provider interface.
Quality and Risk Management Staff Interface
The quality and risk management staff interface is designed to assist the hospital staff with the
analysis and reporting of patient safety events. This interface includes additional information
beyond what is accessible through the provider interface. It contains the AHRQ’s Common
Formats reports, notes, tasks, document attachments, root cause analysis, notes, follow-up
information and submission data tracking for Patient Safety Organizations and other agencies.
Tasks are assigned to the team to review reports and complete the root cause analysis. The
interface provides information on providers, Patient Safety Organizations, and other agencies.
Users can be linked to one or more providers and providers can be linked to a PSO or other
agencies. The report folders associated with the patient safety events are accessed through the
Case Management tab. The team can scroll through the list and search based on event id, folder
label and status. The submissions tab tracks which organizations have received the data, which
version was submitted, and whether or not it was accepted.
Report Designer Interface
The VEPSER system includes an advanced report designer tool that enables users to modify any
of the existing reports and create new reports that can be added to a provider’s report folder. The
report designer was used to create versions of the AHRQ’s Common Formats reports within the
system. Some of its features are listed below.
 You can create new report templates or create new versions of existing templates.
 You can add single answer or multiple answer questions
 You can reorder the questions and their answers
 You can control whether a question requires an answer and what its validation message is
 You can assign code values to questions and each of its answers

4.  You can assign conditional checks for questions that lock or unlock the question based on
the answers selected for other questions.
The designer includes a preview window that allows you to view and interact with the report to
verify the validation and conditional checks. Reports can be added to a provider’s report folder
using the Case Management page.
Technologies Used:
ASP.NET MVC, C#, JQuery, Ajax, XML, LINQ and SQL Server
Judging Criteria:
Effectiveness of the system in facilitating patient safety event reporting including its
compliance with AHRQ’s Common Formats
The VEPSER system is a web based application with support for multiple popular browsers. The
site uses a X.509 certificate for Secure Sockets Layer based encryption. The user interface is
designed to guide the reporter through the reporting process and to provide data analysis, follow-
up action plans, and report designing tools for the quality and risk management staff. The
application automatically determines which reports and data fields should be completed based on
the reporter’s selections. It supports importing demographic data that is packaged as a HL7 v3
Patient Demographics Query Response. It also supports searching for ICD-9, ICD-10, and
RxNORM data. The final xml report is formatted based on the AHRQ’s Common Formats v1.2
standard
Usability and design from the standpoint of all stakeholders
The system was designed to provide a flexible solution for the largest number of potential
reporters. It doesn’t require a reporter to have anything beyond a web browser, an internet
connection, and a sign-in account. The interface was designed to guide the reporter through the
process which should reduce the number of data entry errors that are commonly found in paper
based processes. The system also provides support for data analysis and follow-up action plan
activities.
Ability to integrate with electronic health records and other data sources
The system is designed to process and auto populate the reports with demographic data uploaded
from HL7 v3 Patient Demographic Query Responses. It has support for looking up ICD-9 and
ICD-10 codes and also uses the RxNORM web service API provided by the U.S. National
Library of Medicine.
Creativity and Innovation
The application was designed and developed to provide a straightforward way to report patient
safety events. A report design tool was included so that users would able to create reports to
capture data beyond what is supported in the AHRQ’s Common Formats. It takes advantage of

5. the current generation of development tools. The Model View Controller architecture was chosen
because it separates the user interface from the application logic. This provides flexibility for
future customization and maintenance of the application.
Leverage NwHIN standards including transport, content, and vocabularies
The application was designed to utilize a web based service oriented architecture. It uses an
X.509 certificate for transport layer encryption. Data is stored in relational database and the
.NET framework supports accessing the data using service oriented technologies such as web
services.