The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is extending the deadline for eligible hospitals in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) and Meaningful Use programs to submit their electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) data from 2016.
The extension for the submission of eCQM data is indeed for the 2016 reporting period, pertaining to the fiscal year 2018 payment determination. The deadline has been changed from Tuesday, February 28, 2017, to Monday, March 13, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. PT, CMS announced.
What’s more, CMS said that it also intends to initiate the rulemaking process regarding modifications to the eCQM requirements established in the FY 2017 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule in response to concerns raised by stakeholders. “In order to help reduce reporting burdens while supporting the long term goals of these programs, we intend to include proposals regarding the 2017 eCQM reporting requirements for the Hospital IQR and EHR (electronic health record) Incentive Programs for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals in the FY 2018 IPPS proposed rule that we anticipate to be published in the late spring of 2017,” the agency said.
Specifically, in the FY 2018 IPPS proposed rule, CMS plans to address stakeholder concerns regarding challenges associated with hospitals transitioning to new EHR systems or products, upgrading to EHR technology certified to the 2015 Edition, modifying workflows, and addressing data element mapping, as well as the time allotted for hospitals to incorporate updates to eCQM specifications in 2017. CMS is also considering to propose in future rulemaking to modify the number of eCQMs required to be reported for 2017 as well as to shorten the eCQM reporting period.
