AQI - Anesthesia Quality Institute

First Quality Reporting deadline January 31

The first 2022 Quality Reporting deadline is January 31, 2022. The following items are due to NACOR on this date:

Data from January through November 2021. Practices are encouraged to upload data files prior to the deadline to allow time for review, and to submit corrected files if any errors are identified.
Attesting to 2021 Improvement Activities (including date ranges that the activities were performed).
Reconciliation of provider lists ensuring all NPIs are assigned the proper provider type (MD-Anesthesia, CRNA, DO, AA, SRNA, Resident, etc.).
Provider consents for clinicians reporting as individuals.

Email askaqi@asahq.org with any questions.

Individual Provider Consents due January 31

AQI's NACOR is collecting consent forms from each Eligible Clinician (EC) who is enrolled in 2021 individual quality reporting, as required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). All providers must sign the consent form by January 31, 2022. AQI will only submit data to CMS for individual quality reporting for providers who have signed consent forms. Consents do not apply to those practices reporting as a group.

Scan and email consents (Exhibit A to the Addendum for Quality Reporting) to Javeria Ali. For practices that submitted paper consent forms and received receipt confirmation from AQI, no further action is required.

For questions about consents, email Javeria Ali.

Attesting to Improvement Activities via NACOR

Clinicians can attest to 2021 Improvement Activities using the provider list in the NACOR Dashboard. In this step-by-step tutorial, clinicians learn how to select the Improvement Activity to which they will attest through either the individual or group reporting option. For practices with multiple Tax ID Numbers (TIN), make sure the correct TIN is listed in the drop-down menu before attesting to the activity.

As participants of NACOR, practices can attest to activity IA_PSPA_1: Participation in an AHRQ-listed patient safety organization. This is a medium-weighted activity worth 10 points. Practices also must document the date range that the Improvement Activity was performed in the practice list in the NACOR dashboard. For more information, email askaqi@asahq.org.

To earn full credit for the Improvement Activity Component, you must earn 40 points. Medium-weighted IAs are worth 10 points and high-weighted activities are worth 20 points. If the practice or clinician qualifies for a special status, these points may be doubled.

2021 Quality Payment Program Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exception

Practices that have been approved by CMS for an Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exception for Covid-19 or a natural disaster (e.g., wildfires or hurricanes) and are registered to submit Quality Data to CMS through NACOR must notify AQI before February 15.

If you have not done so already, notify AQI of your practice's exemption status, submit a ticket by emailing nacorsupport@asahq.org.

If AQI does not receive notification through a support ticket, AQI will follow customary procedures for sending your practice's data to CMS. If CMS receives data from a group or individual that has a hardship exemption, CMS will score the data submitted.

To see if your practice has been approved for an Exception, check the Quality Payment Program Website using the QPP Participation Status Tool.

NACOR dashboard lock down January 31 at 11:59 p.m. CST

AQI will lock the provider list tool and the Improvement Activity (IA) screen in the NACOR dashboard at 11:59 p.m. CST on January 31. Clinicians will be unable to make any changes to the provider list or attest to IAs at this time. This will have no impact on viewing data. The provider list and IA screen will be unlocked on Friday, April 8, 2022.

For more information, email askaqi@asahq.org.

2022 NACOR XML schema changes effective April 4

AQI released updates to the 2022 NACOR XML schema. The changes are as follows:

Removed AQIXMLVersionType enumeration "2021V1.0" added AQIXMLVersionType enumeration "2022V1.0"
Removed AQIXMLVersionType enumeration "2021V1.0R" added AQIXMLVersionType enumeration "2022V1.0R"
Modified Elements: ProcedureName, ProcedureDescription. Changed ProcedureName and ProcedureDescription minOccurs="0" to minOccurs="1"
Added enumeration for the QCDRMeasureType to allow reporting the QCDR Measure ABG41 and ABG42: Added <xs:pattern value="ABG[0-9][0-9]" />

All data files must be submitted using the new format, effective April 4, 2022. Visit AQI's Developers Resources page for the XML Schema and documentation. The 2022 XML Test Validation tool will be available after February 15th. For questions, email askaqi@asahq.org.

2022 AQI QCDR Measure Specifications Book Updated

AQI has updated the 2022 AQI QCDR Measure Specifications book. The changes are as follows.

The list of CQM's on page 7 was updated, we removed CQM 154 from the list
AQI measure flowcharts were added to the end of each of the measure specificaitons

If you have any quesions, pleease contact qra@asahq.org.