How to Submit Data to NOMS

Once you've registered to participate in NOMS, you can submit data in one of two ways:

1. By manual entry via our web-based tool
2. By electronic transmission directly from your organization's internal documentation system

For more information on the second option, visit our electronic data transmission page.

The NOMS data collection system has security measures in place in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Data submitted to NOMS are encrypted both in transit and at rest using the latest security protocols. In addition, each individual whose information you enter into NOMS is assigned a computer-generated record number, and ASHA will have no way of identifying individual patients.

Data Collection Guidelines

Before entering data into NOMS, participating clinicians should review the NOMS Clinician User Guide for the registry in which they are participating. Clinicians can access the guide by logging in to the web-based NOMS tool and clicking on the "User Guide" link located at the bottom of the left navigation menu. Each registry specific NOMS Clinician User Guide outlines the data collection process in detail. 

Clinicians should begin data collection within 90 days of your organization’s registration if you are using the web tool or within 180 days if you are using electronic data transmission.

To obtain meaningful data, we encourage you to collect outcomes information on all eligible patients. However, it is not necessary to have all clinicians or programs at a single facility participate in data collection. For example, an organization may decide to collect data from patients in inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient, and home health settings but not include acute-care treatment. You may choose to begin collecting the data in a few programs and then gradually introduce additional programs as you deem appropriate.

There is no minimum number of data submissions required to participate in NOMS. The number of records submitted is not important, but we do require that organizations submit patient data at least once a month. In addition, the larger the database, the more reflective the outcomes will be of your practice. We recommend that organizations exercise caution when analyzing any data containing small sample sizes. If a clinician is in a solo private practice, it may take longer to build this database, but the outcomes information will still be useful in shaping clinical practice.

The need for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval or family or patient notification prior to NOMS participation will depend on your organization’s policy, but this has not been necessary for most organizations. We are not asking you to withhold or change treatment intervention in any way, nor are we asking for data that will allow us to identify individual patients (i.e., name, date of birth, etc.). We are asking you to centralize data that are already a part of the speech and language record.