The final rule for Stage 2 of Meaningful Use (“MU”) included an outline of the timeline for reviewing and publishing updates to the Clinical Quality Measure (“CQM”) specifications used in the EHR Incentive Program with the determination that the specifications should be updated more frequently than the rulemaking cycle for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs in order to ensure that specifications continue to be aligned with current clinical guidelines and to ensure that the CQM remains relevant and actionable within the clinical care setting.
Beginning in 2014, the CQM specifications will be used for multiple programs such as the Physician Quality Reporting Program, as a result of efforts to align incentive programs and reduce the burden on providers to report quality measures.
The updates to the electronic specifications of the CQMs finalized in the Stage 2 rule include new codes and logic corrections and clarifications. While CMS strongly encourages the implementation and use of the updates, CMS will accept all versions of the CQMs for MU, beginning with those finalized in the December 4, 2012 CMS-ONC Interim Final Rule and including all annual updates until the Stage 3 rulemaking and the establishment of a new edition of certification criteria for EHR technology.
The updated 2014 CQMs for eligible hospitals and corresponding specifications for electronic reporting and access to the related data elements and value sets are available here: 2014 specifications on the CMS website
Certification of EHR technologies requires that EHR software products and EHR modules be tested, as applicable, for their capabilities to accurately capture, calculate and report the Clinical Quality Measure results. Cypress is the official ONC Certification Program tool for testing these capabilities. The tool has encoded the measure logic required for testing a software implementation and updated test decks, which reflect updated quality measures. You can access the Cypress tool here: Cypress
If you have any questions regarding the Meaningful Use Stage 2, please contact Alisa Kuehn at akuehn@hallrender.com or (317) 977-1475.
