Q: Is iQIES going away next year?
A: No, but the user interface will be deactivated on Oct. 1, 2025. The internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) is a web-based system with powerful reporting capabilities. It’s where many providers manually complete and/or submit MDS assessments.
In April 2023, iQIES replaced the Java-based Resident Assessment Validation and Entry System (jRAVEN), the free CMS software that facilitated submission of MDS data to QIES. Currently, iQIES has a user interface) available for MDS completion and submission, but these capabilities will be going away.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has notified providers that they will need to find other solutions to submit MDS assessments. In other words, facilities will need vendor software.
Many providers already have software vendors who complete the submission process on the facility’s behalf. Now is the time to verify that process or otherwise connect with your vendor to implement automated submissions. Non-critical access hospitals with swing beds, which don’t always have comprehensive MDS software, should also heed this warning. Facilities needing to make a change should take advantage of the early notice to avoid potential billing implications.
Even if you are not completing or submitting MDS assessments through iQIES, make sure you’re logging in periodically. CMS recently implemented an iQIES Inactive User Policy wherein system audits will be conducted on a regular basis to identify users who have not logged in to the iQIES system for more than 60 days.
Inactive users will receive an email indicating that they will need to log in to iQIES to keep their iQIES user role(s) and account active. If inactive users do not log in, their access will be revoked.
From the July/August 2024 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
