Joint Commission eases ORYX requirements for acute care hospitals

Providers will need to report 4 eCQMs for calendar year 2017, in alignment with final inpatient rule.


Joint Commission-accredited acute care hospitals are required to report on at least four, rather than six, self-selected electronic clinical quality measures for ORYX performance measure reporting in calendar year 2017.

The Joint Commission made the announcement on Tuesday. The action is meant to closely align the accreditation organization with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ recently released Fiscal Year 2018 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule, which requires hospitals to report on a minimum of four eCQMs for one self-selected calendar quarter in calendar years 2017 and 2018.

Also See: CMS proposes rule for collecting, submitting quality data

ORYX measurement requirements are intended to support Joint Commission-accredited organizations in their quality improvement efforts. The Joint Commission accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 U.S. healthcare organizations and programs in the United States, reflecting their commitment to meeting certain performance standards.

“Organizations that have eCQMs selected for CY 2017 can expect additional communication and instruction from The Joint Commission in the very near future regarding selected eCQMs,” states the commission’s announcement.

According to the commission, the 2018 ORYX eCQM reporting requirements will be the same as for 2017. In addition, 2017 and 2018 ORYX chart-abstracted measure reporting requirements remain the same.

“The Joint Commission has eliminated the measure set reporting requirement in favor of reporting on individual measures to include both chart-abstracted measures and eCQMs,” states the announcement. “Monthly chart-abstracted measure data must continue to be reported on a quarterly basis for all four calendar quarters of 2017 and 2018.”

Hospitals must select and report data on both chart-abstracted measures and eCQMs: five required chart-abstracted measures applicable to the services provided and patient populations served by the hospitals, and four of 13 available eCQMs applicable to the services provided and patient populations served by the hospitals.

At the same time, The Joint Commission states that “hospitals may elect to report on additional measures beyond the required chart-abstracted measures and choice of eCQMs.”

An updated Frequently Asked Questions document is available here to provide hospitals with additional information and clarification regarding modifications to the calendar year 2017 ORYX performance measure reporting requirements, as well as information on the calendar year 2018 requirements.

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