Announcements

  • CMS Announces the ESRD QIP Q&A Tool

    A new communications tool for submitting questions about the ESRD QIP is now available on QualityNet as the ESRD QIP Q&A Tool. The new ESRD QIP Q&A tool provides a streamlined process to submit questions to CMS subject-matter experts and receive answers in a timely manner on a wide variety of program topics, including issues related to policy, measure specifications, and deadlines. In addition, the Q&A tool provides immediate answers to commonly asked questions through its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) feature. A robust search engine allows users to quickly locate information based on keywords or phrases, and it provides a convenient summary of relevant answers.

    CMS has posted an overview of the tool in the right-hand “Resources” menu on the ESRD QIP QualityNet home page. In addition, a brief tutorial can be found at ESRD QIP Q&A Tool tutorial. The tutorial guides users to create an account on the tool which will enable CMS to communicate directly with them.

    CMS will continue using the ESRD QIP Mailbox to receive and process Extraordinary Circumstances Exception (ECE) requests and supporting documents, payment questions, and facility-specific information. Likewise, facilities should continue to use their accounts on the QualityNet Secure Portal to pose formal inquiries and clarification questions during each year’s preview period.

    Facilities and the public should not use any of these channels to submit Protected Health Information (PHI) or Personally Identifiable Information (PII) to CMS.

    CMS encourages facilities and other stakeholders to access the ESRD QIP Q&A Tool and submit their questions. CMS will redirect questions that come into the ESRD QIP Mailbox to the ESRD QIP Q&A tool.