CMS offers regulatory relief across its quality measurement programs

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday granted a range of data reporting exceptions and extensions across its quality reporting and value-based payment programs for hospitals, post-acute care facilities and clinicians to relieve provider burden during the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, the agency made it optional to submit data for the fourth quarter of 2019 (October through December) and first two quarters of 2020 (January through March, and April through June). In addition, CMS will not use data from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2020 to calculate performance in its quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs. More details are available in this AHA Advisory.