The following is communication from CMS.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (@CMSGov) has published the 2017 CMS Quality Reporting Document Architecture Category III (QRDA III) Implementation Guide (IG) Version 1.0 (7/07/2017) for Eligible Clinicians and Eligible Professionals (EPs) Programs with Schematron and sample files. This version replaces the 2017 CMS QRDA III IG for Eligible Clinicians Reporting v0.1 (12/29/2016).
The 2017 CMS QRDA III IG for Eligible Clinicians and EPs provides technical instructions for QRDA III reporting for the following programs:
- Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)
- Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+)
The 2017 CMS QRDA III IG for Eligible Clinicians and EPs contains the following high-level changes compared with the reporting specifications in the 2016 CMS QRDA IG:
- The 2017 IG is based on the Health Level Seven (HL7) QRDA Category III R1, Standard for Trial Use R2.1
- For MIPS, Advancing Care Information (ACI) measures and Improvement Activities (IA) can be reported using the two new section templates: ACI Section and IA Section, respectively
- A performance period must now be specified using the Reporting Parameters Act template that is contained within each section template for Quality (electronic clinical quality measures), ACI, and IA
The 2017 CMS QRDA III Schematron provides rules that enforce the conformance statements of the IG. QRDA III submissions to CMS for the 2017 performance period will be submitted through the new Quality Payment Program submissions API or via file upload on the Quality Payment Program website. CMS will provide immediate, clear, and actionable feedback at the time of submission which will enable submitters to be confident that they successfully submitted their data. If there is a problem with the submission, submitters will get the issue specifics right away – and be able to address them immediately. Exact validation feedback provided by the Quality Payment Program may differ, but this Schematron file will validate that a QRDA III file is properly structured and will help with file submission through the Quality Payment Program submission system.
The new Schematron and sample files for this IG replace the 2017 CMS QRDA III Schematrons and Sample Files for Eligible Clinicians Programs v0.1. For more details regarding the changes, visit the “Change Log” sections of the IG.
Additional QRDA-Related Resources
You can find additional QRDA related resources, as well as current and past implementation guides, on the eCQI Resource Center and the CMS eCQM Library. For questions related to the QRDA Implementation Guides and/or Schematrons, visit the ONC QRDA JIRA Issue Tracker. For questions related to Quality Payment Program/MIPS submissions, visit the Quality Payment Program website or call 1-866-288-8292.