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Documentation of Current Medications in the Medical Record

Compare Versions of: "Documentation of Current Medications in the Medical Record"

The Compare function compares two years of the measure specifications found in the header of the measure's HTML. It does not include a comparison of any information in the body of the HTML, e.g., population criteria, Clinical Quality Language, or value sets.

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Measure Information 2022 Performance Period 2023 Performance Period 2024 Performance Period
Title Documentation of Current Medications in the Medical Record Documentation of Current Medications in the Medical Record Documentation of Current Medications in the Medical Record
CMS eCQM ID CMS68v11 CMS68v12 CMS68v13
CBE ID Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
MIPS Quality ID 130 130 130
Description

Percentage of visits for patients aged 18 years and older for which the eligible professional or eligible clinician attests to documenting a list of current medications using all immediate resources available on the date of the encounter

Percentage of visits for patients aged 18 years and older for which the eligible clinician attests to documenting a list of current medications using all immediate resources available on the date of the encounter

Percentage of visits for patients aged 18 years and older for which the eligible clinician attests to documenting a list of current medications using all immediate resources available on the date of the encounter

Definition *See CMS68v11.html *See CMS68v12.html

Current Medications:

Medications the patient is presently taking including all prescriptions, over-the-counter products, herbals, vitamins, minerals, dietary (nutritional) supplements, and cannabis/cannabidiol products with each medication's name, dosage, frequency and administered route.

Route:

Documentation of the way the medication enters the body (some examples include but are not limited to: oral, sublingual, subcutaneous injections, and/or topical).

Initial Population

All visits occurring during the 12-month measurement period for patients aged 18 years and older

All visits occurring during the 12-month measurement period for patients aged 18 years and older

All visits occurring during the 12-month measurement period for patients aged 18 years and older

Numerator

Eligible professional or eligible clinician attests to documenting, updating, or reviewing the patient's current medications using all immediate resources available on the date of the encounter

Eligible clinician attests to documenting, updating, or reviewing the patient's current medications using all immediate resources available on the date of the encounter

Eligible clinician attests to documenting, updating, or reviewing the patient's current medications using all immediate resources available on the date of the encounter

Numerator Exclusions

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

Denominator

Equals Initial Population

Equals Initial Population

Equals Initial Population

Denominator Exclusions

None

None

None

Denominator Exceptions

Documentation of a medical reason(s) for not documenting, updating, or reviewing the patient’s current medications list (e.g., patient is in an urgent or emergent medical situation where time is of the essence and to delay treatment would jeopardize the patient's health status)

Documentation of a medical reason(s) for not documenting, updating, or reviewing the patient’s current medications list (e.g., patient is in an urgent or emergent medical situation where time is of the essence and to delay treatment would jeopardize the patient's health status)

Documentation of a medical reason(s) for not documenting, updating, or reviewing the patient’s current medications list (e.g., patient is in an urgent or emergent medical situation where time is of the essence and to delay treatment would jeopardize the patient's health status)

Measure Steward Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Measure Scoring Proportion measure Proportion measure Proportion measure
Measure Type Process measure Process measure Process measure
Improvement Notation

Higher score indicates better quality

Higher score indicates better quality

Higher score indicates better quality

Guidance

This eCQM is an episode-based measure. An episode is defined as each eligible encounter during the measurement period. This measure is to be reported for every encounter during the measurement period.

Eligible professionals or eligible clinicians reporting this measure may document medication information received from the patient, authorized representative(s), caregiver(s) or other available healthcare resources.

 

By reporting the action described in this measure, the provider attests to having documented a list of current medications utilizing all immediate resources available at the time of the encounter.

This list must include all known prescriptions, over-the-counter (OTC) products, herbals, vitamins, minerals, dietary (nutritional) supplements AND must contain the medications' name, dosage, frequency and route of administration.

This measure should also be reported if the eligible professional or eligible clinician documented the patient is not currently taking any medications.

This version of the eCQM uses QDM version 5.5. Please refer to the eCQI resource center for more information on the QDM.

This eCQM is an episode-based measure. An episode is defined as each eligible encounter during the measurement period. This measure is to be reported for every encounter during the measurement period.

Eligible clinicians reporting this measure may document medication information received from the patient, authorized representative(s), caregiver(s) or other available healthcare resources.

 

By reporting the action described in this measure, the provider attests to having documented a list of current medications utilizing all immediate resources available at the time of the encounter.

This list must include all known prescriptions, over-the-counter (OTC) products, herbals, vitamins, minerals, dietary (nutritional) supplements, cannabis/cannabidiol products AND must contain the medications' name, dosage, frequency and route of administration.

This measure should also be reported if the eligible clinician documented the patient is not currently taking any medications.

This version of the eCQM uses QDM version 5.6. Please refer to the QDM page for more information on the QDM.

This eCQM is an episode-based measure. An episode is defined as each eligible encounter during the measurement period. This measure is to be reported for every encounter during the measurement period.

Eligible clinicians reporting this measure may document medication information received from the patient, authorized representative(s), caregiver(s) or other available healthcare resources.

 

By reporting the action described in this measure, the provider attests to having documented a list of current medications utilizing all immediate resources available at the time of the encounter.

This list must include all known prescriptions, over-the-counter products, herbals, vitamins, minerals, dietary (nutritional) supplements, cannabis/cannabidiol products AND must contain the medications' name, dosage, frequency and route of administration.

This measure should also be reported if the eligible clinician documented the patient is not currently taking any medications.

This version of the eCQM uses QDM version 5.6. Please refer to the QDM page for more information on the QDM.

Telehealth Eligible Yes Yes Yes
Rationale *See CMS68v11.html *See CMS68v12.html

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, during the years of 2013-2016, 48.4% of patients (both male and female) were prescribed at least one prescription medication with 12.6% taking 5 or more medications. Additionally, 89.8% of patients (both male and female) aged 65 years and older were prescribed at least one medication with 40.9% taking 5 or more medications (2018). In this context, maintaining an accurate and complete medication list has proven to be a challenging documentation endeavor for various health care provider settings. While most of outpatient encounters (two-thirds) result in providers prescribing at least one medication, hospitals have been the focus of medication safety efforts (Stock, Scott, & Gurtel, 2009). Nassaralla, Naessens, Chaudhry, Hansen, and Scheitel (2007) caution that this is at odds with the current trend, where patients with chronic illnesses are increasingly being treated in the outpatient setting and require careful monitoring of multiple medications. Additionally, Nassaralla et al. (2007) reveal that it is in fact in outpatient settings where more fatal adverse drug events (ADE) occur when these are compared to those occurring in hospitals (1 of 131 outpatient deaths compared to 1 in 854 inpatient deaths). In the outpatient setting, ADEs occur 25% of the time and over one-third of these are considered preventable (Tache, Sonnichsen, & Ashcroft, 2011). Particularly vulnerable are patients over 65 years, with evidence suggesting that the rate of ADEs per 10,000 person per year increases with age; 25-44 years old at 1.3; 45-64 at 2.2, and 65 + at 3.8 (Sarkar, López, Maselli, & Gonzales, 2011). Other vulnerable groups include individuals who are chronically ill or disabled (Nabhanizadeh, Oppewal, Boot, & Maes-Festen, 2019). These population groups are more likely to experience ADEs and subsequent hospitalization.

A multiplicity of providers and inadequate care coordination among them has been identified as barriers to collecting complete and reliable medication records. A study conducted by Poornima et al. (2015) indicates that reconciliation and documentation continue to be poorly executed with discrepancies occurring in 92% of patients (74 of 80) admitted to the emergency room. Of 80 patients included in the study, the home medications were reordered for 65% of patients on their admission. Of the 65%, 29% had a change in their dosing interval, while 23% had a change in their route of administration, and 13% had a change in dose. A total of 361 medication discrepancies, or the difference between the medications patients were taking before admission and those listed in their admission orders, were identified in at least 74 patients. The study found that "Through an appropriate reconciliation programme, around 80% of errors relating to medication and the potential harm caused by these errors could be reduced" (Poornima et al., 2015). Presley et al. (2020) also recognized specific barriers to sufficient medication documentation and reconciliation in rural and resource-limited care settings.

Documentation of current medications in the medical record facilitates the process of medication review and reconciliation by the provider, which is necessary for reducing ADEs and promoting medication safety. The need for provider to provider coordination regarding medication records, and the existing gap in implementation, is highlighted in the American Medical Association's Physician's Role in Medication Reconciliation, which states that "critical patient information, including medical and medication histories, current medications the patient is receiving and taking, and sources of medications, is essential to the delivery of safe medical care. However, interruptions in the continuity of care and information gaps in patient health records are common and significantly affect patient outcomes" (2007). This is because clinical decisions based on information that is incomplete and/or inaccurate are likely to lead to medication error and ADEs. Weeks, Corbette, and Stream (2010) noted similar barriers and identified the utilization of health information technology as an opportunity for facilitating the creation of universal medication lists. One 2015 meta-analysis showed an association between electronic health record (EHR) documentation with an overall risk ratio (RR) of 0.46 (95% CI = 0.38 to 0.55; P < 0.001) and ADEs with an overall RR of 0.66 (95% CI = 0.44 to 0.99; P = 0.045). This meta-analysis provides evidence that the use of the EHR can improve the quality of healthcare delivered to patients by reducing medication errors and ADEs (Campanella et al., 2016).

Stratification *See CMS68v11.html *See CMS68v12.html

None

Risk Adjustment *See CMS68v11.html *See CMS68v12.html

None

Clinical Recommendation Statement *See CMS68v11.html *See CMS68v12.html

The Joint Commission's 2020 Ambulatory Health Care National Patient Safety Goals guide providers to maintain and communicate accurate patient medication information. Specifically, the section "Use Medicines Safely NPSG.03.06.01" states the following: “Record and pass along correct information about a patient’s medicines. Find out what medicines the patient is taking. Compare those medicines to new medicines given to the patient. Give the patient written information about the medicines they need to take. Tell the patient it is important to bring their up-to-date list of medicines every time they visit a doctor.”

The National Quality Forum's Safe Practices for Better Healthcare (2010), states the following: "the healthcare organization must develop, reconcile, and communicate an accurate patient medication list throughout the continuum of care."

Next Version No Version Available
Previous Version No Version Available

Header

  • Updated the eCQM version number.

    Measure Section: eCQM Version Number

    Source of Change: Annual Update

  • ​Removed NQF number and notation of endorsement from measure header because this measure is no longer endorsed by NQF.

    Measure Section: NQF Number

    Source of Change: Measure Lead

  • Updated Measure Developer.

    Measure Section: Measure Developer

    Source of Change: Measure Lead

  • ​Removed NQF number and notation of endorsement from measure header because this measure is no longer endorsed by NQF.

    Measure Section: Endorsed By

    Source of Change: Measure Lead

  • Updated copyright.

    Measure Section: Copyright

    Source of Change: Annual Update

  • Updated disclaimer.

    Measure Section: Disclaimer

    Source of Change: Annual Update

  • ​Updated rationale to incorporate current literature and statistics.

    Measure Section: Rationale

    Source of Change: Measure Lead

  • Updated clinical recommendation statement to align with The Joint Commission's 2020 Ambulatory Health Care National Patient Safety Goals guide.

    Measure Section: Clinical Recommendation Statement

    Source of Change: Measure Lead

  • Updated references.

    Measure Section: Reference

    Source of Change: Standards Update

  • Relocated the provider attestation statement in the guidance section to improve readability.

    Measure Section: Guidance

    Source of Change: Annual Update

  • Added clarifying language to guidance section of episode-based measures to define the episode.

    Measure Section: Guidance

    Source of Change: Annual Update

  • Removed extraneous comma in Supplemental Data Elements field.

    Measure Section: Supplemental Data Elements

    Source of Change: Annual Update

Logic

  • Updated the version number of the Measure Authoring Tool (MAT) Global Common Functions Library (MATGlobalCommonFunctions-6.2.000). Updated the 'Inpatient Encounter' definition to include a 'day of' timing clarification. Added the following timing functions: Normalize Interval, Has Start, Has End, Latest, Latest Of, Earliest, and Earliest Of. Please see individual measure details for application of specific timing functions.

    Measure Section: Definitions

    Source of Change: Standards Update

  • Added new NormalizeInterval function to timing attributes to decrease implementation burden due to variable use of timing attributes for select QDM data types. The NormalizeInterval function was applied, where applicable, for the following data elements: Assessment, Performed; Device, Applied; Diagnostic Study, Performed; Intervention, Performed; Laboratory Test, Performed; Medication, Administered; Medication, Dispensed; Physical Exam, Performed; Procedure, Performed; Substance, Administered.

    Measure Section: Functions

    Source of Change: Standards Update

  • Updated the names of Clinical Quality Language (CQL) definitions, functions, and/or aliases for clarification and to align with the CQL Style Guide.

    Measure Section: Multiple Sections

    Source of Change: Standards Update

Value Set

The VSAC is the source of truth for the value set content, please visit the VSAC for downloads of current value sets.

  • Value set Encounter to Document Medications (2.16.840.1.113883.3.600.1.1834): Added 6 CPT codes (99211, 92549, 92650, 92651, 92652, 92653) based on terminology update. Deleted 2 CPT codes (92585, 99201) based on terminology update. Added 7 SNOMED CT codes (183382003, 163497009, 169762003, 18114009, 183383008, 698610002, 870422002) based on review by technical experts, SMEs, and/or public feedback. Deleted 3 SNOMED CT codes (273643004, 385973000, 405096004) based on review by technical experts, SMEs, and/or public feedback.

    Measure Section: Terminology

    Source of Change: Measure Lead

Last Updated: Mar 04, 2024