Information on QECPs from Discern

Medicare claims data soon will become a national resource for reporting on quality and cost of providers, according to Chris Haffer, PhD, the CMS project leader for the Qualified Entities Certification Program (QECP). Discern played an important role in the development of the requirements for QECP, and Discern Partner Linda Shelton is one of the first QECP executive reviewers trained to review applications submitted by prospective Qualified Entities (QEs).

Created by the Affordable Care Act, the QECP will allow qualified entities (QEs) to purchase and use huge files of Medicare Parts A, B and D claims data. Combining Medicare claims data with other data sources could make provider report cards much more useful to the public. For instance, using Medicare data and some of the approved standard measures may allow QEs to report on medical specialties for which commercial data alone does not provide enough cases.

A public or private entity or consortium can apply for certification as a QE. The QECP team will be offering a free, online informational sessions this spring for entities interested in applying. Please visit the website at www.qemedicaredata.org.