Dive Brief:
- The American Hospital Association (AHA) has listed several requests to CMS in a letter regarding its new rules for electronic quality reporting measures (eCQM), one of which is to release results of previous eCQM pilots demonstrations to better inform future rulemaking.
- Another request is to expand and enhance eCQM education and outreach to benefit all stakeholders, Healthcare IT News reports.
- CMS issued its first request for public comment on Dec. 31, 2015, asking for feedback on issues related to health IT certification and on EHR products for reporting incentive programs to the agency.
Dive Insight:
CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) extended the comment period hoping to gain industry perspective on how often to require recertification, and how many clinical quality measures a certified health IT module should be required to certify, as previously reported by Healthcare Dive.
The AHA requested CMS to provide information on the transition from chart-based reporting to EHRs in CMS programs and explain how eCQM will achieve interoperability with other organization's requirements. Faster ways to identify and define data required for eCQM reporting and submission were also recommended.
Additional recommendations included requiring developers to certify health IT modules to all eCQMS available for eligible hospitals and CAHs, and more robust testing opportunities to improve the quality of eCQMs.