Now Available: eCQM Annual Update Pre-Publication Document

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the Electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQM) Annual Update Pre-Publication Document, which describes changes in the standards and code system versions used in the updated eCQMs for potential use in CMS quality reporting programs for the 2023 reporting/performance period. 

The Pre-Publication Document is designed to help health information technology (IT)/electronic health record (EHR) developers, Eligible Clinicians, and Eligible Hospitals/Critical Access Hospitals prepare for the 2023 reporting/performance period through transparent pre-release of expected standards and code system versions.

The updated eCQMs will be available on the Electronic Clinical Quality Improvement (eCQI) Resource Center in spring 2022. The measures will be expressed using CQL logic and will continue to use the Quality Data Model (QDM) as the conceptual model to express clinical concepts contained within eCQMs. Refer to the QDM v5.6 and current version of the CQL standard to better understand how they work together to provide eCQMs that are human readable, yet structured for electronic processing. Measures will not be eligible for the 2023 reporting/performance period unless and until they are proposed and finalized through notice-and-comment rulemaking for each applicable program.

To find out more about eCQMs and CQL, visit the eCQI Resource Center. Please sign up for and follow the eCQI Resource Center, CMS, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) listservs to receive updates and announcements on the eCQM specifications’ publication and related content.

Please submit questions or comments regarding the standards being used or the upcoming eCQM annual update to the eCQM Issue Tracker.