As an alternative to using NMD-Certified software, you can create your own NMD data file using a spreadsheet. Excel templates are available for NMD Versions 2.0 and 3.x files, although you are not required to use them. However, all files must conform to the requirements outlined for either NMD Version 2.0 or NMD Version 3.x, as described in the file specification attachments in the NMD Data Submission Overview.
The NMD 3.x Supplemental Information document, posted on the NMD Data Submission Overview page, supplements the Version 3.x file specifications with descriptions of relationships among the data elements and of how certain clinical scenarios should be represented in the file. There is no corresponding document for Version 2.0 files.
When generating your NMD file, it's important to use a timeframe that includes updated records. If you suspect that there have been updates to exams from prior submissions, you should use a timeframe that includes those exam dates. It does not duplicate any records when you resubmit; they will simply overwrite existing records in NMD with the same values as they had before. Since performance measures are recalculated every quarter, any updates from previous quarters will be included in calculations for the corresponding year. For this reason, we recommend that you upload the last six months of your data routinely, to make sure you've captured all the updates to follow-up data.
All data files must be either pipe-delimited text or Excel (xlsx) files. Once you have populated the file with data, save it to your computer as an Excel (xlsx) file or convert the file to a .TXT File. Make sure the file conforms to the NMD data file format for NMD Version 2.x or NMD Version 3.x (see attachments in NMD Data Submission Overview).
NOTE: When uploading an Excel file, please ensure it does NOT have any formulas in the cells. This will cause the file to reject and potentially not allow the log file to be accessed. Also, do not use the vertical bar character, "|" , when populating free text fields.
Follow the steps described in Data File Upload Instructions to upload the file, check the status of the file, and view rejected records. You should also review the more detailed NMD Data Quality Report generated for each data upload. This report provides detailed counts of data for each variable, including errors and missing data.
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