***Quarterly Data Quality reviews of the data stored in Minnesota's HMIS are currently suspended, owing to the ongoing HMIS software transition from WellSky Community Services to Eccovia ClientTrack. The QDQ process is not expected to resume immediately after the new software becomes available for use on July 1, 2024, as the shift to ClientTrack will require a revised approach to data quality reviews. For more information on the software transition, including the reasoning behind the QDQ pause, visit our the Software Transition page.***
What is Quarterly Data Quality (QDQ)?
QDQ is the data quality review process for agencies participating in Minnesota's HMIS.
Why is high-quality data important?
With high-quality data, a community can accurately tell the story of the individuals and families it serves. For the information in the system to be useful in measuring our progress or understanding our system, it must be accurate, complete, consistent, and timely.
Our system is big and complex, and it requires regular attention to ensure that the data in it meets our quality standards. Especially with the inclusion of Coordinated Entry in HMIS, good data helps agencies and programs make decisions that affect clients’ lives, so it’s more important now than ever.
In recent years, ICA has focused on data quality in response to federally mandated efforts like System Performance Measures and the Longitudinal System Analysis (formerly known as the AHAR). These efforts look at data in the system in specific ways, and require ICA and users to respond to specific timelines.
While those efforts won’t go away, our new process has a more frequent examination of the HUD and MN Universal Data Elements, all of which are important in those efforts, as a way to reduce the effort spent looking at and attempting to correct data from years ago during crunched timelines.