Section 1e: Version 3 (V3)
Section 3: Implementation Guides
Section 4: Rules and References
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Representation of the Health Quality Measure Format (eMeasure) Release 1
DESCRIPTION
The Health Quality Measures Format (HQMF) is a standard for representing a health quality measure as an electronic document. A quality measure is a quantitative tool that provides an indication of an individual or organization’s performance in relation to a specified process or outcome via the measurement of an action, process or outcome of clinical care. Quality measures are often derived from clinical guidelines and are designed to determine whether the appropriate care has been provided given a set of clinical criteria and an evidence base. Quality measures encoded in the HQMF format are referred to as electronic clinical quality measures, or eCQMs.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Representation of the Health Quality Measure Format (eMeasure) Release 1 may also go by the following names or acronyms:
TARGETS
- Healthcare Providers
- Physicians and Clinicians
- Quality Reporting Agencies
- Standards Development Organizations (SDOs)
- Regulatory Agency
- Payors
- EHR, PHR Vendors
- Health Care IT Vendors
- Clinical Decision Support Systems Vendors
- HIS Vendors
- Healthcare Institutions (hospitals, long term care, home care, mental health)
BENEFITS
- Provides for quality measure consistency and unambiguous interpretation
- Fosters the success of quality improvement efforts for physicians and other clinicians
- Better enables EHR queries
IMPLEMENTATIONS/CASE STUDIES
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (US)
DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUND
The development of this standard was supported by volunteer efforts in HL7 supported by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contractors to promote the effective use of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems to evaluate clinical care delivery. The initiative aims to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care by making possible the capture and reporting of quality measure information for physicians and other healthcare providers.
HQMF formally defines a quality measure (data elements, logic, definitions, etc.) to support consistent and unambiguous interpretation. Quality measure developers can encode their measures in this format so that they can be consumed by provider organizations, which will then be able to use the formal definitions to, for instance, query their EHR data stores. The standard was tested as a Standard for Trial Use from 2009 through 2017 and it is still in use for electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) used in the United States. It remains an international standard.
RELATED DOCUMENTS
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Representation of the Health Quality Measure Format (eMeasure) Release 1 |
(Download) (15.66 MB) |
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HL7 Version 3 Implementation Guide: Clinical Quality Language (CQL)-based Health Quality Measure Format (HQMF), Release 1, STU 4.1 - US Realm | (View Brief) |
TOPICS
- Decision Support
- Patient Care
BALLOT TYPE
- Normative
STATUS DATE
2017-06-15RESPONSIBLE WORK GROUPS
STAKEHOLDERS
- Clinical Decision Support Systems Vendors
- EHR, PHR Vendors
- Health Care IT Vendors
- Healthcare Institutions
- HIS Vendors
- Payors
- Quality Reporting Agencies
- Regulatory Agency
- Standards Development Organizations (SDOs)
FAMILY
- V3
CURRENT STATE
- Stable
REALM
- Universal