Anticoagulation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter

Measure Information	2023 Reporting Period	2024 Reporting Period	2025 Reporting Period	2026 Reporting Period
Title	Anticoagulation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation or Flutter	Anticoagulation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation or Flutter	Anticoagulation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter	Anticoagulation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter
CMS eCQM ID	CMS71v12	CMS71v13	CMS71v14	CMS71v15
Short Name	STK-3	STK-3	STK-3	STK-3
CBE ID*	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Measure Steward	The Joint Commission	The Joint Commission	The Joint Commission	The Joint Commission
Description	Ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation/flutter who are prescribed or continuing to take anticoagulation therapy at hospital discharge	Ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation/flutter who are prescribed or continuing to take anticoagulation therapy at hospital discharge	Ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation/flutter who are prescribed or continuing to take anticoagulation therapy at hospital discharge	Ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation/flutter who are prescribed or continuing to take anticoagulation therapy at hospital discharge
Measure Scoring	Proportion measure	Proportion measure	Proportion measure	Proportion measure
Measure Type	Process	Process	Process	Process
Stratification	*See CMS71v12.html	None	None	None
Risk Adjustment	*See CMS71v12.html	None	None	None
Rationale	*See CMS71v12.html	Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is a common arrhythmia and an important risk factor for stroke. It is one of several conditions and lifestyle factors that have been identified as risk factors for stroke. It has been estimated that over 2 million adults in the United States have NVAF. While the median age of patients with atrial fibrillation is 75 years, the incidence increases with advancing age. For example, The Framingham Heart Study noted a dramatic increase in stroke risk associated with atrial fibrillation with advancing age, from one and a half percent for those 50 to 59 years of age to 23.5% for those 80 to 89 years of age. Furthermore, a prior stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) are among a limited number of predictors of high stroke risk within the population of patients with atrial fibrillation. Therefore, much emphasis has been placed on identifying methods for preventing recurrent ischemic stroke as well as preventing first stroke. Prevention strategies focus on the modifiable risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, and atrial fibrillation. Analysis of five placebo-controlled clinical trials investigating the efficacy of warfarin in the primary prevention of thromboembolic stroke, found the relative risk of thromboembolic stroke was reduced by 68% for atrial fibrillation patients treated with warfarin. The administration of anticoagulation therapy, unless there are contraindications, is an established effective strategy in preventing recurrent stroke in high stroke risk-atrial fibrillation patients with TIA or prior stroke.	Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is a common arrhythmia and an important risk factor for stroke. It is one of several conditions and lifestyle factors that have been identified as risk factors for stroke. It has been estimated that over 2 million adults in the United States have NVAF. While the median age of patients with atrial fibrillation is 75 years, the incidence increases with advancing age. For example, The Framingham Heart Study noted a dramatic increase in stroke risk associated with atrial fibrillation with advancing age, from 1.5% for those 50 to 59 years of age to 23.5% for those 80 to 89 years of age. Furthermore, a prior stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) are among a limited number of predictors of high stroke risk within the population of patients with atrial fibrillation. Therefore, much emphasis has been placed on identifying methods for preventing recurrent ischemic stroke as well as preventing first stroke. Prevention strategies focus on the modifiable risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, and atrial fibrillation. Analysis of five placebo-controlled clinical trials investigating the efficacy of warfarin in the primary prevention of thromboembolic stroke, found the relative risk of thromboembolic stroke was reduced by 68% for atrial fibrillation patients treated with warfarin. The administration of anticoagulation therapy, unless there are contraindications, is an established effective strategy in preventing recurrent stroke in high stroke risk-atrial fibrillation patients with TIA or prior stroke.	Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is a common arrhythmia and an important risk factor for stroke. It is one of several conditions and lifestyle factors that have been identified as risk factors for stroke. It has been estimated that over 2 million adults in the United States have NVAF (Kornej, 2020). While the median age of patients with atrial fibrillation is 75 years, the incidence increases with advancing age. For example, The Framingham Heart Study noted a dramatic increase in stroke risk associated with atrial fibrillation with advancing age, from 1.5% for those 50 to 59 years of age to 23.5% for those 80 to 89 years of age. Furthermore, a prior stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) are among a limited number of predictors of high stroke risk within the population of patients with atrial fibrillation. Therefore, much emphasis has been placed on identifying methods for preventing recurrent ischemic stroke as well as preventing first stroke. Prevention strategies focus on the modifiable risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, and atrial fibrillation. Analysis of five placebo-controlled clinical trials investigating the efficacy of warfarin in the primary prevention of thromboembolic stroke, found the relative risk of thromboembolic stroke was reduced by 68% for atrial fibrillation patients treated with warfarin. The administration of anticoagulation therapy, unless there are contraindications, is an established effective strategy in preventing recurrent stroke in high stroke risk-atrial fibrillation patients with TIA or prior stroke.
Clinical Recommendation Statement	*See CMS71v12.html	The administration of anticoagulation therapy, unless there are contraindications, is an established effective strategy in preventing recurrent stroke in high stroke risk atrial fibrillation patients with TIA or prior stroke	The administration of anticoagulation therapy, unless there are contraindications, is an established effective strategy in preventing recurrent stroke in high stroke risk atrial fibrillation patients with TIA or prior stroke	The administration of anticoagulation therapy, unless there are contraindications, is an established effective strategy in preventing recurrent stroke in high stroke risk atrial fibrillation patients with TIA or prior stroke
Improvement Notation	Improvement noted as an increase in rate	Improvement noted as an increase in rate	Improvement noted as an increase in rate	Increased score indicates improvement
Definition	*See CMS71v12.html	None	None	None
Guidance	The "Non-elective Inpatient Encounter" value set intends to capture all non-scheduled hospitalizations. This value set is a subset of the "Inpatient Encounter" value set, excluding concepts that specifically refer to elective hospital admissions. Non-elective Inpatient Encounters include emergency, urgent, and unplanned admissions. The "Medication, Discharge" datatype refers to the discharge medication list and is intended to express medications ordered for post-discharge use. The denominator population includes patients with inpatient hospitalizations and patients from Acute Hospital Care at Home programs, who are treated and billed as inpatients but receive care in their home. This eCQM is an episode-based measure. An episode is defined as each inpatient hospitalization or encounter that ends during the measurement period. This version of the eCQM uses QDM version 5.6. Please refer to the QDM page for more information on the QDM.	The "Nonelective Inpatient Encounter" value set intends to capture all non-scheduled hospitalizations. This value set is a subset of the "Inpatient Encounter" value set, excluding concepts that specifically refer to elective hospital admissions. Non-elective Inpatient Encounters include emergency, urgent, and unplanned admissions. The "Medication, Discharge" datatype refers to the discharge medication list and is intended to express medications ordered for post-discharge use. The denominator population includes patients with inpatient hospitalizations and patients from Acute Hospital Care at Home programs, who are treated and billed as inpatients but receive care in their home. This eCQM is an episode-based measure. An episode is defined as each inpatient hospitalization or encounter that ends during the measurement period. This version of the eCQM uses QDM version 5.6. Please refer to the QDM page for more information on the QDM.	The "Nonelective Inpatient Encounter" value set intends to capture all non-scheduled hospitalizations. This value set is a subset of the "Inpatient Encounter" value set, excluding concepts that specifically refer to elective hospital admissions. Non-elective Inpatient Encounters include emergency, urgent, and unplanned admissions. The "Medication, Discharge" datatype refers to the discharge medication list and is intended to express medications ordered for post-discharge use. The denominator population includes patients with inpatient hospitalizations and patients from Acute Hospital Care at Home programs, who are treated and billed as inpatients but receive care in their home. This eCQM is an episode-based measure. An episode is defined as each inpatient hospitalization or encounter that ends during the measurement period. This version of the eCQM uses QDM version 5.6. Please refer to the QDM page for more information on the QDM.	The "Nonelective Inpatient Encounter" value set intends to capture all non-scheduled hospitalizations. This value set is a subset of the "Inpatient Encounter" value set, excluding concepts that specifically refer to elective hospital admissions. Non-elective Inpatient Encounters include emergency, urgent, and unplanned admissions. The "Medication, Discharge" datatype refers to the discharge medication list and is intended to express medications ordered for post-discharge use. The denominator population includes patients with inpatient hospitalizations and patients from Acute Hospital Care at Home programs, who are treated and billed as inpatients but receive care in their home. This eCQM is an episode-based measure. An episode is defined as each inpatient hospitalization or encounter that ends during the measurement period. This version of the eCQM uses QDM version 5.6. Please refer to the QDM page for more information on the QDM.
Initial Population	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients age 18 and older, discharged from inpatient care (non-elective admissions) with a principal diagnosis of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke and a length of stay less than or equal to 120 days that ends during measurement period	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients age 18 and older, discharged from inpatient care (non-elective admissions) with a principal diagnosis of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke and a length of stay less than or equal to 120 days that ends during measurement period	Inpatient hospitalizations (non-elective admissions) for patients age 18 and older, discharged from inpatient care with a principal diagnosis of ischemic stroke, ending during the measurement period	Inpatient hospitalizations (non-elective admissions) for patients age 18 and older, discharged from inpatient care with a principal diagnosis of ischemic stroke, ending during the measurement period
Denominator	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with a principal diagnosis of ischemic stroke, and a history of atrial ablation, or current or history of atrial fibrillation/flutter	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with a principal diagnosis of ischemic stroke, and a history of atrial ablation, or current or history of atrial fibrillation/flutter	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with a principal diagnosis of ischemic stroke, and a history of atrial ablation, or current or history of atrial fibrillation/flutter	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with a principal diagnosis of ischemic stroke, and a history of atrial ablation, or current or history of atrial fibrillation/flutter
Denominator Exclusions	* Inpatient hospitalizations for patients admitted for elective carotid intervention. This exclusion is implicitly modeled by only including non-elective hospitalizations. * Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to another hospital * Inpatient hospitalizations for patients who left against medical advice * Inpatient hospitalizations for patients who expired * Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to home for hospice care * Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to a health care facility for hospice care * Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with comfort measures documented	- Inpatient hospitalizations for patients admitted for elective carotid intervention. This exclusion is implicitly modeled by only including non-elective hospitalizations. - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to another hospital - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients who left against medical advice - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients who expired - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to home for hospice care - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to a health care facility for hospice care - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with comfort measures documented	- Inpatient hospitalizations for patients admitted for elective carotid intervention. This exclusion is implicitly modeled by only including non-elective hospitalizations. - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to another hospital - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients who left against medical advice - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients who expired - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to home for hospice care - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to a health care facility for hospice care - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with comfort measures documented	- Inpatient hospitalizations for patients admitted for elective carotid intervention. This exclusion is implicitly modeled by only including non-elective hospitalizations. - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to another hospital - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients who left against medical advice - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients who expired - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to home for hospice care - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients discharged to a health care facility for hospice care - Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with comfort measures documented
Numerator	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients prescribed or continuing to take anticoagulation therapy at hospital discharge	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients prescribed or continuing to take anticoagulation therapy at hospital discharge	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients prescribed or continuing to take anticoagulation therapy at hospital discharge	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients prescribed or continuing to take anticoagulation therapy at hospital discharge
Numerator Exclusions	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	None
Denominator Exceptions	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with a documented reason for not prescribing anticoagulation therapy at discharge	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with a documented reason for not prescribing anticoagulation therapy at discharge	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with a documented reason for not prescribing anticoagulation therapy at discharge	Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with a documented reason for not prescribing anticoagulation therapy at discharge
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Measure Information

2023 Reporting Period

2024 Reporting Period

2025 Reporting Period

2026 Reporting Period

Title

Anticoagulation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation or Flutter

Anticoagulation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter

CMS eCQM ID

CMS71v12

CMS71v13

CMS71v14

CMS71v15

Short Name

STK-3

CBE ID*

Not Applicable

Measure Steward

The Joint Commission

Description

Ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation/flutter who are prescribed or continuing to take anticoagulation therapy at hospital discharge

Measure Scoring

Proportion measure

Measure Type

Process

Stratification

*See CMS71v12.html

None

Risk Adjustment

*See CMS71v12.html

None

Rationale

*See CMS71v12.html

Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is a common arrhythmia and an important risk factor for stroke. It is one of several conditions and lifestyle factors that have been identified as risk factors for stroke. It has been estimated that over 2 million adults in the United States have NVAF. While the median age of patients with atrial fibrillation is 75 years, the incidence increases with advancing age. For example, The Framingham Heart Study noted a dramatic increase in stroke risk associated with atrial fibrillation with advancing age, from one and a half percent for those 50 to 59 years of age to 23.5% for those 80 to 89 years of age. Furthermore, a prior stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) are among a limited number of predictors of high stroke risk within the population of patients with atrial fibrillation. Therefore, much emphasis has been placed on identifying methods for preventing recurrent ischemic stroke as well as preventing first stroke. Prevention strategies focus on the modifiable risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, and atrial fibrillation. Analysis of five placebo-controlled clinical trials investigating the efficacy of warfarin in the primary prevention of thromboembolic stroke, found the relative risk of thromboembolic stroke was reduced by 68% for atrial fibrillation patients treated with warfarin. The administration of anticoagulation therapy, unless there are contraindications, is an established effective strategy in preventing recurrent stroke in high stroke risk-atrial fibrillation patients with TIA or prior stroke.

Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is a common arrhythmia and an important risk factor for stroke. It is one of several conditions and lifestyle factors that have been identified as risk factors for stroke. It has been estimated that over 2 million adults in the United States have NVAF. While the median age of patients with atrial fibrillation is 75 years, the incidence increases with advancing age. For example, The Framingham Heart Study noted a dramatic increase in stroke risk associated with atrial fibrillation with advancing age, from 1.5% for those 50 to 59 years of age to 23.5% for those 80 to 89 years of age. Furthermore, a prior stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) are among a limited number of predictors of high stroke risk within the population of patients with atrial fibrillation. Therefore, much emphasis has been placed on identifying methods for preventing recurrent ischemic stroke as well as preventing first stroke. Prevention strategies focus on the modifiable risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, and atrial fibrillation. Analysis of five placebo-controlled clinical trials investigating the efficacy of warfarin in the primary prevention of thromboembolic stroke, found the relative risk of thromboembolic stroke was reduced by 68% for atrial fibrillation patients treated with warfarin. The administration of anticoagulation therapy, unless there are contraindications, is an established effective strategy in preventing recurrent stroke in high stroke risk-atrial fibrillation patients with TIA or prior stroke.

Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is a common arrhythmia and an important risk factor for stroke. It is one of several conditions and lifestyle factors that have been identified as risk factors for stroke. It has been estimated that over 2 million adults in the United States have NVAF (Kornej, 2020). While the median age of patients with atrial fibrillation is 75 years, the incidence increases with advancing age. For example, The Framingham Heart Study noted a dramatic increase in stroke risk associated with atrial fibrillation with advancing age, from 1.5% for those 50 to 59 years of age to 23.5% for those 80 to 89 years of age. Furthermore, a prior stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) are among a limited number of predictors of high stroke risk within the population of patients with atrial fibrillation. Therefore, much emphasis has been placed on identifying methods for preventing recurrent ischemic stroke as well as preventing first stroke. Prevention strategies focus on the modifiable risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, and atrial fibrillation. Analysis of five placebo-controlled clinical trials investigating the efficacy of warfarin in the primary prevention of thromboembolic stroke, found the relative risk of thromboembolic stroke was reduced by 68% for atrial fibrillation patients treated with warfarin. The administration of anticoagulation therapy, unless there are contraindications, is an established effective strategy in preventing recurrent stroke in high stroke risk-atrial fibrillation patients with TIA or prior stroke.

Clinical Recommendation Statement

*See CMS71v12.html

The administration of anticoagulation therapy, unless there are contraindications, is an established effective strategy in preventing recurrent stroke in high stroke risk atrial fibrillation patients with TIA or prior stroke

Improvement Notation

Improvement noted as an increase in rate

Increased score indicates improvement

Definition

*See CMS71v12.html

None

Guidance

The "Non-elective Inpatient Encounter" value set intends to capture all non-scheduled hospitalizations. This value set is a subset of the "Inpatient Encounter" value set, excluding concepts that specifically refer to elective hospital admissions. Non-elective Inpatient Encounters include emergency, urgent, and unplanned admissions.

The "Medication, Discharge" datatype refers to the discharge medication list and is intended to express medications ordered for post-discharge use.

The denominator population includes patients with inpatient hospitalizations and patients from Acute Hospital Care at Home programs, who are treated and billed as inpatients but receive care in their home.

This eCQM is an episode-based measure. An episode is defined as each inpatient hospitalization or encounter that ends during the measurement period.

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

The "Nonelective Inpatient Encounter" value set intends to capture all non-scheduled hospitalizations. This value set is a subset of the "Inpatient Encounter" value set, excluding concepts that specifically refer to elective hospital admissions. Non-elective Inpatient Encounters include emergency, urgent, and unplanned admissions.