May 2021 EQRS News

Clinical Data
In-Center Hemodialysis Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (ICH CAHPS) Attestation
Clinical Depression Screening and Follow-Up Plan submissions in the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Reporting System (EQRS)

All EQRS users must continue to follow the data suspension guidelines outlined
via the January 29, 2021, EQRS Announcement.

To refresh your memory on how to submit data, access the EQRS New User Training materials on the MyCROWNWeb.org Educational Resources page. For further information, please submit your questions to CRAFT@MyCROWNWeb.org.

Admitting Patients in EQRS

EQRS uses six key identifiers when transferring a patient to your facility. These identifiers help ensure that the correct patient record is electronically moved from the previous facility to yours. The six key identifiers are:

First Name	Last Name
Date of Birth	Gender
Social Security Number	Medicare Beneficiary Identifier

Enter all available data and click Submit. The message “Patient admission was successful” will display if the information is entered correctly.

Users are directed to contact their ESRD Networks for assistance with admitting the patient if any of the six identifiers are entered incorrectly.

Further details on how to admit and discharge patients in EQRS can be found in the EQRS New User Training materials.

Submitting CMS-2728 Forms in EQRS

EQRS follows CMS’s logic for completing CMS-2728 Forms for patients with ESRD. EQRS triggers forms to be completed based on reported data. The types of CMS-2728 Forms are below.

Types of CMS-2728 Forms
Initial	For all patients who initially receive a kidney transplant instead of a course of dialysis. For patients for whom a regular course of dialysis has been prescribed by a physician because they have reached that stage of renal impairment that a kidney transplant or regular course of dialysis is necessary to maintain life. The first date of a regular course of dialysis is the date this prescription is implemented whether as an inpatient of a hospital, an outpatient in a dialysis center or facility, or a home patient. The form should be completed for all patients in this category even if the patient dies within this time period.
Supplemental	Patient has received a transplant or trained for self-care dialysis within the first 3 months of the first date of dialysis and initial form was submitted.
Re-entitlement	For beneficiaries who have already been entitled to ESRD Medicare benefits and those benefits were terminated because their coverage stopped 3 years post-transplant but now are again applying for Medicare ESRD benefits because they returned to dialysis or received another kidney transplant. For beneficiaries who stopped dialysis for more than 12 months, have had their Medicare ESRD benefits terminated and now returned to dialysis or received a kidney transplant. These patients will be reapplying for Medicare ESRD benefits.

Access the CMS-2728 and 2746 memo for the latest information on how to modify the form.

Access the CMS-2728 Instructions on CMS.gov for additional information regarding field requirements.

Access the EQRS New User Training materials on MyCROWNWeb.org for step-by-step instructions on how to complete a CMS-2728 Form in EQRS.

Clinical Closures

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

September 2020 Clinical Month		Suspended until further notice
October 2020 Clinical Month		Suspended until further notice
November 2020 Clinical Month		Suspended until further notice
December 2020 Clinical Month		Suspended until further notice
January 2021 Clinical Month		Suspended until further notice
February 2021 Clinical Month		Suspended until further notice
March 2021 Clinical Month		Suspended until further notice

The information included as part of this newsletter is current as of the date of release.