The Quality Data Model (QDM) is a conceptual information model that defines clinical patient data and concepts in a standardized format to enable electronic quality performance measurement. The model is the current structure for electronically representing quality measure concepts for stakeholders involved in electronic quality measure development and reporting. Electronic health record systems can use the QDM to consistently understand the information to access from clinical records to report the data required to meet measure criteria.
CMS established the Quality Data Implementation (QDI) User Group to ensure broad stakeholder collaboration in quality measurement standards development, maintenance, and harmonization with quality measure and Clinical Decision Support (CDS) standards to support the electronic clinical quality improvement (eCQI) landscape. Participants of this open stakeholder group use their expertise to provide feedback and influence electronic data modeling based on
A broader focus of this group now allows for discussion around emerging quality measurement standards like FHIR and QI-Core in addition to the QDM data model.
You can review the QDI User Group Charter for more information about the group. To get involved or provide feedback, refer to the Connect tab.
QDM version 5.6
The most recent version of the QDM is QDM v5.6, published January 2021. MAT v6.10 implements the features and modifications of the QDM v5.6 changes and is available for the development/update of eCQMs for the 2023 CMS quality reporting/performance period. The QDM 5.6 document lists all changes from QDM v5.5 Guidance Update in section 7.1 and highlights all data model changes throughout the document with red text.
Current Version of the QDM in Use
QDM version 5.5 Guidance Update is used for the development/update of eCQMs for the calendar years 2021 and 2022 reporting/performance periods.
For reference, visit the Standards and Tools Versions Chart for more detail on versions used to create and/or support the implementation of the specific reporting/performance period specifications.
Visit the QDM FAQs page to review common questions and answers on QDM.
QDM Known Issues are found on the Clinical Quality Language (CQL) Formatting and Usage Wiki.
Overview
The QDM provides the language that defines the criteria for clinical quality measurement. It allows the electronic definition of a clinical concept via its data elements and provides the vocabulary to relate these elements to each other. By relating attributes between data elements and using filtering functions, the QDM provides a method to construct complex clinical representations for eCQMs. The QDM provides the foundation for the conceptualization and specification phases in the eCQM Measure Lifecycle.
