Mar 14, 2019
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will make a series of Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES) enhancements beginning with an enhancement to the Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCH) Assessment Submission and Processing system in March 2019. The enhancements to the system for LTCHs will be comprised of the first of multiple releases to the existing QIES system, resulting in what will now be called the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES).
The next release, scheduled in late fall 2019, will include updates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities, home health agencies, and will include Survey and Certification capabilities. Skilled nursing facilities and hospices will transition to iQIES at a later date. The enhancements will make the system more reliable, intuitive, secure, accessible, and cloud-based as it will be Internet facing.
For More Information
For additional information about the first release for LTCHs, the following communications will be made available in the coming weeks:
- iQIES LTCH Security Official Request Letter – Instructions on how your organization can assign a "Security Official" and begin the account creation process.
- iQIES Training Video Announcement – Resources for how to navigate the iQIES system and how to utilize the improved functionality.
- iQIES LTCH XML Upload Release Announcement - Announcement of March 20th Go-Live date
- iQIES LTCH Assessment Tool Launch Announcement – Launch of the new free user tool software.
- iQIES FAQs – Frequently asked questions that will be updated periodically based on end-user feedback to improve the overall experience.
Please contact our service desk at: iqies@cms.hhs.gov or by phone: 800-339-9313 with any questions.