"Measures Management and You" is a monthly bulletin about quality measurement resources and opportunities. Subscribe to receive email updates from MMS.

What’s New with the Measures Management System (MMS)

Register for MMS Information Session: Please join us 2 - 3 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, February 22 for a webinar, “Digital Quality Measures: Specifying the Future of Quality Measurement.” A digital quality measure is a measure that uses one or more electronic data sources and can be reported electronically. Digital quality measurement is an important aspect of CMS’s effort to reduce provider burden, increase measurement efficiency, and support alignment across its programs. To meet this aim, digital quality measures can be specified using standards and tools different from those used in manually abstracted measures. To learn more about these special considerations, including how data elements are defined and standardized, please attend. We look forward to you joining us! Register here.

Register to Attend Health Equity Webinar: There is still time to register for the upcoming CMS webinar: “From Data to Action: How CMS and its Stakeholders Are Addressing Inequities in Healthcare.” Join us for a discussion of the CMS Framework for Health Equity and how key stakeholders are leveraging changes in data science and quality measurement to drive progress toward more equitable care for all. There are two opportunities to attend this presentation: 

• Tuesday, February 28, 2023, from 3 – 4 p.m. (ET) (Register here)
• Wednesday, March 8, 2023, from 12 – 1 p.m. (ET) (Register here)

Submit Candidate Measures Today: The CMS Measures Under Consideration (MUC) Entry/Review Information Tool (CMS MERIT) is now open for 2023 quality and efficiency measure submissions! Measure developers/stewards may submit candidate measures until CMS MERIT closes at 8 p.m. (ET) Friday, May 19. Visit the CMS Pre-Rulemaking webpage on the CMS MMS Hub to stay up to date on all things Pre-Rulemaking!

• Attend Kick-Off Webinar: Join CMS from 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. (ET) Tuesday, March 21 to learn about this year’s Pre-Rulemaking process, requirements, and resources. Register here.
• Learn More About Measure Submission: Attend the CMS MERIT Tips & Tricks session from 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. (ET) Tuesday, April 11 to learn about the ins and outs of the tool for measure submissions. Register here.

Coming Soon – CMIT 2.6: CMS strives to deliver top notch user experience; we heard your feedback and are excited to announce the latest enhancements to the CMS Measures Inventory Tool (CMIT)—the measure repository for healthcare quality and quality improvement. With these latest changes, CMIT is now more user friendly and intuitive. There will be updated terminology, incorporation of additional programs, the integration of the new Cascade of Meaningful Measures, and improved search functionality. The latest version will be available late March! 

• Attend an MMS Information Session to Learn More: Join us for “Unveiling CMS Measures Inventory Tool (CMIT) 2.6” at 2 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, March 29 to learn about the latest enhancements. Register here.

Research Resources Available: The Environmental Scan Tool (ESST) compiles literature from PubMed, PubMed Central, and CINAHL into one search process, organized by relevancy to quality measures found in the CMIT library. For more information, visit CMIT Environmental Scan (cms.gov).

In Case You Missed It: Check out what’s new in quality measurement with these recent MMS presentations:

• January MMS Information Session, “What’s in a Name?: Terminology & Current Linguistic Trends in Measure Specification”
• December MMS Information Session, “Measure Conceptualization: From Ideas to Action”

Announcements: Stay Up to Date

Draft U.S. Core Data for Interoperability, (USCDI) Version 4 Now Available: The draft USCDI, Version 4 is now available! With its publication, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology (IT) proposes to add 20 data elements across one new data class (Facility Information) and eight existing data classes. The USCDI is an annually updated standardized set of health data classes and data elements developed and adopted by ONC to serve as a baseline for health information exchange and inform interoperable health IT implementations. View the draft here.

Resources for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Data Submission: View guidance for submitting MIPS data for the 2022 performance year and other helpful resources in the Quality Payment Program Resource Library.

Get Involved: Upcoming Events

Attend Expert to Expert Webinar: Join The Joint Commission, CMS, and Mathematica for an Expert to Expert webinar at 3 p.m. (ET) February 16 on the Safe Use of Opioids Concurrent Prescribing Electronic Clinical Quality Measure (eCQM) Annual Updates for 2023 eCQM implementation. Common questions will be addressed. Register here.

Attend Hospital VBP Program, HAC Reduction Program, and Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program FY 2023 Provider Data Catalog Refresh at 2 p.m. (ET) February 16. This session will provide an overview of publicly reported data and information available for CMS inpatient hospital pay-for-performance programs, including the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program; the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program; and the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. Register here.

Stakeholder Engagement Opportunities

Public Comment, Technical Expert Panels (TEP), and Federal Register Rule Comment

Public Comment Opportunity: Diagnostic Delay in Venous Thromboembolism (DOVE) eCQM. Brigham and Women’s Hospital requests comments on candidate or concept eCQMs.

• The opportunity closes for comment on April 10.
• Learn more about the DOVE eCQM and submit comments here.

Federal Register Rule Comment Opportunity: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Advancing Interoperability and Improving Prior Authorization Processes for Medicare Advantage Organizations, Medicaid Managed Care Plans, State Medicaid Agencies, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Agencies and CHIP Managed Care Entities, Issuers of Qualified Health Plans on the Federally-Facilitated Exchanges, Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Eligible Clinicians, and Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals in the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program

• The opportunity closes for comment at 5 p.m. (ET) March 13.
• Learn more about the proposed rule and submit comments here.

National Quality Forum (NQF) Event Calendar

Interested in providing feedback on measures under consideration for NQF endorsement? The NQF event calendar includes details about current and upcoming comment periods and information about upcoming meetings.

• Visit the NQF event calendar.