The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the draft 2018 CMS Quality
Reporting Document Architecture (QRDA) Category III Implementation Guide (IG) for Eligible
Professionals (EPs) and Eligible Clinicians (referred to as the Draft 2018 CMS QRDA III IG). The IG is
posted in JIRA, ticket number QRDA-605, for public comment. A JIRA account is required to comment.
The public comment period begins November 6, 2017 and ends November 17, 2017.

The Draft 2018 CMS QRDA III IG provides implementation guidance for the 2018 performance period for
submitting QRDA Category III (QRDA-III) files for the following CMS Programs:

• Quality Payment Program: Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs)
• Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+)
• Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program for EPs; based on individual state submission acceptant requirements

The Draft 2018 CMS QRDA III IG:

• Is based on the Health Level Seven (HL7) QRDA Category III R1, Standard for Trial Use R2.1. There are no changes to the QRDA templates from the 2017 CMS QRDA III IG.
• Includes updated electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) specifications for EPs and Eligible Clinicians universally unique identifier (UUID) list for the 2018 performance period.
• Includes updates to the advancing care information measures and improvement activities for the 2018 performance period.

For more detail regarding the changes from previous versions of the CMS QRDA III IG, visit the “Change
Log” section of the document. We look forward to receiving your feedback.