News: CMS announces relief for facilities participating in quality reporting during COVID-19

CMS announced that it is granting exceptions from reporting requirements and extensions for clinicians and providers participating in Medicare quality reporting programs with respect to upcoming measure reporting and data submission. The action comes as part of the response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Several programs will also have “extreme and uncontrollable circumstances” policy exceptions and extensions for reporting and submissions deadlines, CMS announced. For those programs with submission deadlines in April and May 2020, submission will be optional and based on the facility’s choice to report.

CMS said that it “recognizes that quality measure data collection and reporting for services furnished during this time period may not be reflective of their true level of performance on measures such as cost, readmissions, and patient experience … and seeks to hold organizations harmless for not submitting data during this period.”

As the COVID-19 situation continues to develop, CMS will continue assessing options for additional relief to clinicians, facilities and their staff so that they can keep focus on caring for patients.

Editor’s note: The full CMS press release can be found here. For additional COVID-19 information, visit coronavirus.gov. To read ACDIS’ coverage of the pandemic, click here.