Medicare Quality Reporting Incentive programs Manual (Pub. 100-22), Ch. 1 § 50.3
Electronic Health Record-based (EHR-based) Reporting Mechanism
50.3 – Electronic Health Record-based (EHR-based) Reporting Mechanism
(Rev. 10, Issued: 07-27-12, Effective: 10-29-12, Implementation: 10-29-12)
To report Physician Quality Reporting System quality measures data via a direct EHR-based
reporting mechanism, an eligible professional must select a qualified direct EHR product. For
each program year, an eligible professional choosing the EHR-based reporting mechanism must:
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• Have access to a CMS-specified identity management system, such as IACS;
• Submit a test file containing dummy clinical quality data extracted from the EHR to a
CMS clinical data warehouse; and
• Submit a file containing the eligible professional’s Physician Quality Reporting System
clinical quality data extracted from the EHR for the entire reporting via the CMS-
designated clinical data warehouse by no later than 2 months after the end of the
reporting period
CMS qualifies EHR vendors and their specific product(s) for use by eligible professionals to
submit Physician Quality Reporting System quality measures data to CMS. The list of qualified
EHR vendors and products for a specific program year are made available on the CMS Physician
Quality Reporting System website at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRS. The list of qualified EHR
vendors and products is generally posted before the start of program year or shortly thereafter.
For example, the list of 2011 qualified EHR vendors and products was posted prior to January
2011.
To report Physician Quality Reporting System quality measures data via an EHR data
submission vendor, an eligible professional must select a qualified EHR data submission vendor
product.