Now Available for a Second Opportunity to Submit Public Comment: Draft 2019 CMS QRDA III Implementation Guide for Eligible Clinicians and Eligible Professionals

Visit the JIRA Website to Submit Official Comments by September 21, 2018

The draft 2019 CMS Quality Reporting Document Architecture (QRDA) Category III Implementation Guide (IG) for Eligible Clinicians and Eligible Professionals has been posted for a second opportunity to submit public comment starting on August 31, 2018 and ending on September 21, 2018. The 2019 CMS QRDA III IG will help eligible clinicians and eligible professionals report electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) starting in the calendar year 2019 reporting period.

Please note that we are continuing to listen to our stakeholders and this version of the draft IG does contain updates made in direct response to feedback we received during the original public comment period held from May 30, 2018 through June 20, 2018.

How to submit comments:

• Ticket number: QRDA-724.
• A JIRA account is required to submit a comment.
• Comments will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. ET on September 21, 2018.

The draft 2019 CMS QRDA III IG contains the following high-level changes/corrections as compared to the 2018 CMS QRDA III IG Version 2 published on July 27, 2018:

• Increased alignment with its base standard, the HL7 QRDA III STU R2.1 IG
• Now shows the template changes from the base HL7 QRDA III STU R2.1 IG only
• Updated eCQM Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs) for the 2019 performance period eCQMs that were released on May 4, 2018. Please note, measures will not be eligible for 2019 reporting unless and until they are proposed and finalized through notice-and-comment rulemaking for the applicable program.
• The following performance period reporting requirements are consistent with the 2018 CMS QRDA III IG V2. Templates are updated to specify reporting performance period at the individual measure/activity level.

o   The performance period under MIPS can be reported at either of the following levels:

The individual measure level for the MIPS quality measures and at the individual activity level for the MIPS improvement activities (IA), as defined by CMS, or

The performance category level for Quality and IA performance categories.

o   Performance period reporting for Promoting Interoperability (formerly Advancing Care Information) will remain at the category level. For CPC+ reporting, the performance period for Quality also remains at the category level.

• Added CMS program name code “MIPS_VIRTUALGROUP” to support MIPS virtual group reporting. This is consistent with the 2018 CMS QRDA III IG V2.

Please note, this is a draft document and the contents are subject to change. Content may change based on the Final rule and updated measure tables are anticipated post-final rule publication.

Additional QRDA-Related Resources:

Additional QRDA-related resources, as well as current and past implementation guides, can be found on the eCQI Resource Center QRDA page. For questions related to this guidance, the QRDA Implementation Guides or Schematrons, visit the ONC QRDA JIRA Issue Tracker.

We look forward to receiving your feedback on the draft 2019 CMS QRDA III IG