QPP eCQM scoring issue
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is alerting group practices to a calculation issue that impacts electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) scoring during the 2020 quality performance year. eCQMs are used in several programs, including the Quality Payment Program. This issue has the potential to impact scoring for three specific measures when certain time values are not present in the input data. The erroneous calculation may result in an increase or decrease of cases that fall in the measure population.
Impacted measures:
- CMS128v8 Anti-depressant Medication Management
- CMS146v8 Appropriate Testing for Children with Pharyngitis
- CMS56v8 Functional Status Assessment for Total Hip Replacement
CMS has published updated measure packages to correct the issue for all three impacted eCQMs here. Physician practices that are reporting on the measure(s) should contact their EHR vendors to determine if updates are warranted.
Congress set to return to DC next week
When Congress returns to Washington next week, they will face two major hurdles—government funding and COVID-19 relief. Congress has until Sept. 30 to fund the government or face a potential government shutdown. It is possible that COVID-19 relief measures will get wrapped into a final package that includes government funding. To that end, MGMA members are encouraged to send a letter to their congressional representatives urging their support of physician practices during COVID-19 using our Contact Congress portal.