The standards used for the electronic representation of CDS and eCQMs were developed separately and used different data models and computable expression languages. CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) supported efforts to identify, develop, and harmonize standards. Clinical Quality Language (CQL) is a logic expression language that can be used with both CDS and eCQMs. Beginning in 2019, CQL is used in eCQMs for CMS quality reporting/performance periods. Learn more about efforts to harmonize standards for CDS and eCQM.
Current standards
- Clinical Quality Language (CQL)
- Clinical Quality Framework
- Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) Clinical Reasoning Module and key components
- FHIR® Quality Improvement Core (QI Core)
- Implementation Guide for using FHIR® to develop eCQMs and CDS
- Clinical Practice Guidelines “CPG-on-FHIR”
- CDS Hooks
- Context-Aware Knowledge Retrieval (Infobutton)
Visit the HL7® CDS Workgroup to learn more about standards development related to CDS.
Last Updated: Jan 12, 2026