In This Issue:

EQRS System Announcement

2744 Annual Survey

EQRS Troubleshooting

Clinical Closures

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• Tuesday, February 16, 2021 • 2:00-3:30 PM ET

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Data Management Guidelines

Education

Conditions for Coverage for ESRD Facilities

ESRD QIP Questions

EQRS System Announcement

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is aware of the challenges that some users are experiencing with submitting data via the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Reporting System (EQRS). We are committed to ensuring the accuracy and reliability of our data, and are working to rapidly resolve these issues. We appreciate the feedback that we’ve received from the dialysis community, which helped us to identify these issues quickly. We will continue to monitor and assess our systems for any issues on an ongoing basis as a part of continuous process improvement and to ensure a positive user experience.

Effective January 29, 2021, we are suspending EQRS Clinical Data, In-Center Hemodialysis Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (ICH CAHPS) Attestation, and Clinical Depression Screening and Follow-Up Plan submission. Users should not send any additional clinical data to CMS while we work towards implementing solutions that can support data reporting requirements and the EQRS user community’s needs. Users must continue to use EQRS to complete tasks such as admit and discharge patients, complete CMS forms (such as the 2728, 2744, and 2746), add or update treatment summaries, and resolve accretions within a timely manner. Users should also continue to keep facilities’ information up-to-date. Please note that all previously submitted data is stored in EQRS and will not be lost. We will remain in close communication with the dialysis community over the coming weeks and will provide updated information on submission requirements and deadlines soon. We look forward to continue working together to enhance the ESRD Quality Reporting System and reduce facility data reporting burden.

For further information please visit QualityNet at https://qualitynet.cms.gov/ or contact the QualityNet Help Desk at 1-866-288-8912, Monday – Friday (7 a.m. – 7 p.m. CT).

CMS-2744 Annual Facility Survey In EQRS

On January 29, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Reporting System (EQRS) to allow users to complete the CMS-2744 Annual Facility Survey for Calendar Year 2020.

At the start of each calendar year, Medicare-Certified dialysis facilities and transplant centers are required to complete the CMS-2744 Annual Facility Survey. This survey provides a final count of all patients and treatments provided by a dialysis facility or transplant center during the prior calendar year. It also includes important facility and patient demographic information, such as Medicare Coverage, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Facility Staff counts.

Facility representatives initiate the CMS-2744 completion process in EQRS by generating a form and submitting it to their ESRD Network for acceptance. Users must monitor their forms’ status and work with their ESRD Network to “Finalize” forms.

For more information on the CMS-2744 Annual Facility Survey, access the January 2021 Town Hall slides from the Events page on www.MyCROWNWeb.org.

EQRS Troubleshooting: Who Are You Going to Call?

Need assistance with reporting data via EQRS? Use the links and contact information below for assistance. CMS is continuing to update EQRS to meet data reporting requirements and users’ needs. Contacting the QualityNet Service Desk to open a ticket assists CMS with tracking system-related issues.

Clinical Closures

Clinical closure dates apply to all Collection Types (Hemodialysis; Peritoneal Dialysis). Additionally, clinical data submissions apply to all submission methods.