Can you please advise if we can manually update quality Value Sets when SNOMED makes updates throughout the year? It seems we have ICD10 codes that are updated in SNOMED, but the Value Sets used in our EHR to capture this data are only updated annually when CMS/IHI update them to be downloaded.

Or, if the Value Sets are updated more frequently, can you please advise how often, and where we can find them? If not, how would CMS recommend we keep our quality measurement accurate throughout the year and still meet compliance for different quality reporting programs?

Below is an example of the situation, just for clarity.

…request to review the grouper used in CMS-154 Appropriate Treatment for Children with URI. She requested these specific codes be added to the grouper: H65.191 acute otitis media in pediatric patient, right. H65.192 acute otitis media in pediatric patient, left. and H65.193 acute otitis media in pediatric patient, bilateral. I reviewed the grouper against the CMS value set and these codes are not in the value set. CMS has several otitis media codes in the H66 and H67 ranges, but not these specific H65 codes. The grouper was missing a few other codes, so I did update it. However, the codes she is looking for shouldn’t be in the grouper per the value set.

We both informed her that the grouper should only include the codes CMS states are valid to meet the measure. It sounds like these may be new codes that came in the latest IMO load but are not recognized by CMS yet.

I appreciate any guidance you can give us.