Hybrid measures are quality measures that merge electronic health record data elements with claims data to calculate measure results. Currently, the Hybrid Hospital Wide Readmission (HWR) measure and the Hybrid Hospital Wide Mortality (HWM) measure are the hybrid measures adopted for use in a program.
The electronic specifications for the Hybrid HWR and Hybrid HWM measures are updated for the mandatory reporting period from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 for the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program. Hospitals submitting data for this measure reporting period will receive confidential hospital-specific reports detailing submission results from the reporting period, as well as the Hybrid HWR and Hybrid HWM measure results. CMS will publicly report data for this reporting period and will use for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 payment determination under the Hospital IQR program.
Each year, CMS makes updates to the hybrid measures adopted for reporting in the Hospital IQR program. Hybrid measures require updates to the electronic specifications and to claims-based specifications, available on QualityNet. CMS requires the use of updated electronic specifications for all its quality programs because they include updated codes, logic corrections, and clarifications. Reporting data for the hybrid measures to the Hospital IQR program requires a hospital or electronic health record vendor to use the most current version of the electronic measure specifications for the applicable reporting period.
- Use the Hybrid HWR and Hybrid HWM eCQM Resources and follow the eCQM Implementation Checklist to update your electronic health record and processes for hybrid measure use and reporting.
- Read the 2025 Public Reporting Key Dates and Resources document to view key dates and resources for hospitals participating in the 2025 public reporting of the Hybrid HWR and Hybrid HWM Measures.
Across the eCQI Resource Center, for brevity, we use the term eCQM to encompass eCQMs and hybrid measures unless specified in a filter.