Thank you for your question. The timing attributes represent respectively. The authorDateTIme is the time the data element was entered into the system, relevantPeriod address the time between the start of an action to the end of an action, and resultDatetime is the time the result is generated and saved in the system. Some datatypes list periods and author dateTime as attributes, the reason is to allow measure developer to differentiate in the logic the time an action occurs vs. the time it is documented. According to QDM v5.4, it states that “when the start dateTime of a period is not known, the retrieve should default to the author dateTime without having to specify author date Time in the measure”. Please reference QDM v5.4 for detail information.

CMS-all EH measures: QDM5.3 and 5.4 state Author Date/Time can be used for Encounters, Medications, Procedures, devices, Diagnostic Studies, etc. IF the Start Date/Time is missing. Does this apply only to measure developers, or does it also appy when interpreting the logic in the specifications? If a specification says Relevant.Period Start, can we use the Author Date/time if the Relevant.Period Start is missing in the patient file? I'm asking if this is a background rule, or if we only use Start date/time. Thanks.