The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' potential changes to electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) reporting are too much of a burden on hospitals, according to industry leaders providing comment on the proposed inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) rule for 2017.
The rule, published April 27, proposes to require electronic reporting of 15 CQMs for a full year in 2017. Currently, hospitals report on four eCQMs for just a quarter. The rule would also winnow out 13 eCQMs from the inpatient quality reporting (IQR) and Meaningful Use programs. Comments were due June 17.
While commenters appreciated the reduction of eCQMs from 28 to 15, they still were concerned with the scope of the proposed reporting in 2017 that would be needed to avoid a payment adjustment in 2019. Many echoed the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives’ (CHIME) concern that there were barriers to increasing the reporting at this time and that it would not lead to better care. CHIME recommended that CMS continue the reporting of just four eCQMs for 2017, and maintain voluntary electronic submissions until both providers and policy makers agreed on the maturity of eCQM specifications. It also recommended that reporting remain at one quarter.
HIMSS also expressed concern that hospitals would not be able to report on all 15 suggested eCQMs. It noted that certified EHRs were not currently required to be certified in all 15 of the eCQMs and that there only eight months remained from the publication of the proposed rule to the Jan. 1, 2017, start date. The American Hospital Association (AHA) added that the proposal seemed more focused on advancing a particular data collection mechanism rather than improving quality of care.
“The AHA is troubled by CMS’s proposal, as it would increase the amount of data electronically submitted without the benefit of lessons learned from the first year of the electronic submission requirement," the association noted in its letter. "We also are concerned that the proposal is not realistic given the timeline for CY 2016 reporting, the eCQM update experience to date and the competing activities in 2017."
To learn more:
- here's CHIME's letter
- check out the HIMSS letter