Frequently Asked Questions
The Electronic Clinical Quality Improvement (eCQI
) Resource Center is a website that provides a centralized “one-stop shop” for stakeholders engaged in electronic quality improvement. The eCQI Resource Center draws from existing resources wherever possible to minimize duplication of resources and efforts across programs and websites. The site contains resources and information put forth by federal agencies: the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and provides links to external functional tools to meet the needs of stakeholders throughout their eCQI efforts.
The Electronic Clinical Quality Improvement (eCQI) Resource Center website is sponsored and maintained by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
You can find resources that can be used at various stages of electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) development, testing, certification, implementation, reporting, continuous evaluation of eCQMs, and information about standards and tools to support electronic clinical quality improvement (eCQI), including clinical decision support (CDS). The eCQI Resource Center also supports users looking for links to external resources related to eCQMs and data reporting, like ONC Project Tracking System (Jira), the Measure Authoring Tool (MAT), and the Value Set Authority Center (VSAC).
The eCQI Resource Center includes:
- eCQM specifications and supporting materials
- CMS Quality Reporting Document Architecture (QRDA) I and III Implementation Guides, Schematrons, and Sample Files
- Tools and links to resources used in conjunction with eCQMs and eCQI
- Standards and data models used in conjunction with eCQMs and eCQI such as Clinical Quality Language (CQL), Health Quality Measure Format (HQMF), Quality Data Model (QDM), and QRDA
- Collaborative Measure Development (CMD) Workspace
- eCQM Data Element Repository (DERep)
- Event listings and announcements related to eCQMs and eCQI
On the eCQI Resource Center site, select the “Sign in” button in the upper right of the screen. This opens the Login page. Under the Username box, select the link that reads: “If you don't have a username, create an account.” Request an account by providing your desired Username, E-mail Address, and Display Name. Users with active accounts can receive updates on a particular topic of interest by subscribing to section/space. Subscribing to a section/space provides the user with notifications via email when content is added or changed in that space. To subscribe to a section/space, navigate to the webpage which is of interest e.g., eCQI Tools & Resources, Quality Data Model (QDM), Quality Reporting Document Architecture (QRDA), and select the "Receive updates on this topic" link on the lower-left part of the page.
Note: not all pages allow for this functionality. Notifications will be sent when the space/page you have subscribed to is updated. A verification page will open, provide a response, and select the “Join” button. You will return back to the page of interest and will see that the “Receive updates on this topic” link has been replaced by a “Stop receiving updates on this topic” link. Click the link if you wish to stop receiving notifications.
The electronic clinical quality improvement (eCQI) Resource Center is constantly improving to better meet the needs of its users. Please send any questions or feedback to ecqi-resource-center@hhs.gov.