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The Weekly Quality Brief: ECAT Measure Clarifications, Hospital Harm eCQM Guidance, and HCAHPS Reporting Changes (5/28/26)

The Weekly Quality Brief: ECAT Measure Clarifications, Hospital Harm eCQM Guidance, and HCAHPS Reporting Changes (5/28/26)

The Weekly Quality Brief
• 26 min
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This episode covers questions from a Quality Academy Q&A session focused on quality reporting programs, hospital harm eCQMs, HCAHPS reporting, and CMS payment models. Quality Reporting Programs Clarification of Emergency Care Access and Timeliness (ECAT) measure terminology across CMS rulemaking and reporting programs Discussion of ECAT’s adoption in the OQR and REHQR programs Review of CMS considerations for future inclusion of ECAT-related measures in Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Explanation of the relationship between the Hospital IQR, OQR, IPPS, and OPPS programs Requirements for measures to be publicly reported in IQR before inclusion in Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Hospital Harm eCQMs Clarification of the 30-day timeframe used in the Postoperative Respiratory Failure Hospital Harm measure Discussion of encounter-based logic versus post-discharge events and readmissions Review of hospitalization period requirements within numerator logic Examples illustrating how prolonged hospital stays are evaluated under the measure Pressure Injury Documentation & Present on Admission Review of ONC Jira guidance regarding present-on-admission (POA) documentation Timing requirements for pressure injury assessments and skin examinations Differences between timing requirements for skin findings and POA indicators Clarification that POA exclusion logic is based on hospitalization data regardless of when the POA indicator is updated Discussion of stage II, III, IV, unstageable, and deep tissue pressure injury timing windows TEAM Model Explanation of how TEAM episodes are triggered using qualifying MS-DRGs and HCPCS codes Distinction between assigned MS-DRGs and diagnosis or procedure code positions Review of episode eligibility criteria and anchor hospitalization requirements Discussion of CMS TEAM participant data files and episode identification HCAHPS Updates Explanation of why Responsiveness of Hospital Staff and Care Transition measures do not appear in July 2026 preview reports Review of HCAHPS survey changes beginning with 2025 discharges Discussion of transitional public reporting periods for HCAHPS submeasures Introduction of new HCAHPS concepts including Care Coordination, Restfulness of Hospital Environment, and Information About Symptoms Timeline for public reporting of updated HCAHPS submeasures Star Ratings Demonstration of Medisolv’s Hospital Star Rating Analyzer Discussion of projecting future star ratings using publicly reported performance data Overview of measure-level modeling and scenario planning functionality Review of available consulting services related to star rating improvement CMS Reporting & Preview Reports Discussion of the availability of July 2026 Hospital Compare preview reports Question regarding the release timing of hybrid measure HSR reports Status of inquiries submitted to QualityNet regarding hybrid reporting availability Quality Academy Updates Results of the survey regarding future Weekly Q&A scheduling Discussion of potential changes to session timing Request for feedback on the upcoming HHER (Healthcare Reporting) Conference