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New Patient Assessment User Tool for Home Health Agencies Available in iQIES January 1, 2020

Dec 16, 2019

The Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES), which providers and vendors use to submit patient assessment data, is being upgraded to make the system more reliable, scalable, secure, and accessible. The new system, referred to as iQIES, is the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System. It replaces the current assessment submission and processing and reporting systems known as ASAP and CASPER, collectively known as QIES. CMS will release iQIES incrementally by provider type. Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) was released in March 2019, followed by Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) in October 2019, and Home Health Agencies (HHAs) will go live in January 2020.

The rollout of iQIES will not require providers to change current processes related to the submission of patient assessment data, but these system enhancements include a new, optional web-based assessment submission and reporting tool that will be available on January 1, 2020. This update will replace the Home Assessment Validation and Entry system (jHAVEN) tool and simplifies the process for HHAs to manage patient assessments (create, modify, inactivate and delete) and patient data. Providers will be able to submit patient assessment information directly in iQIES, similar to the process of completing an online form without requiring the extract of patient assessment data. The use of software that would enable the production of XML files needed to submit patient assessments is no longer the only option to submitting patient assessments. Please refer to the link below to view in detail the process of managing patient assessments directly in iQIES: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIZZBKbcjO0&list=PLaV7m2-zFKpj2t7Qhn7ONiM0Zb_A1MTIq&index=7.

Please note that you must complete the onboarding process required to gain access to iQIES as soon as possible. Failure to obtain access to iQIES prior to December 23, 2019 could impact your ability to submit assessment data needed for payment purposes beginning January 1, 2020.

Completing onboarding by December 23, 2019 will allow you time to avoid some common onboarding delays, such as system downtime in preparation for the January 1 release, and possibly the need to utilize the manual proofing process when registering with HARP. In addition, CMS anticipates a surge in iQIES access requests as January 1st approaches, increasing the chances of delays in help desk response times.

If your organization has not yet requested access to iQIES, we recommend that you request access as soon as possible. For instructions on obtaining access, descriptions of roles available to your organization and other important iQIES information, please refer to the onboarding guide link: https://qtso.cms.gov/system/files/qtso/iQIESOnboardingGuide-WebVersion_0.pdf.

*Only certain roles have access to the user tool in iQIES. Please read the role descriptions carefully before choosing your role.

Please note that at this time, only certified Home Health Agencies will be onboarded to iQIES. For technical assistance, please contact our service desk at: iqies@cms.hhs.gov or by phone: 800-339-9313.

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