Cypress Tool Reaches Latest Milestone
In October CMS released specifications for the 2014 eCQMs finalized in Stage 2 Meaningful Use of the EHR incentive program. As part of reporting clinical quality measures for Stage 2 the ONC has commissioned development of an open source certification tool named Cypress.
The objective of Cypress is to enable repeatable and rigorous testing of an EHR’s ability to accurately calculate Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) in Stage 2 Meaningful Use. The tool is available to EHR vendors and testing bodies to use for testing the ability to meet the demands of electronic CQM certification requirements for the 2014 Edition for certified EHR technology (CEHRT). On November 16 the beta version of Cypress was released.
Cypress lists on their website the certification criteria the tool addresses including:
- Export – the capability of EHR technology to create a data file that can be incorporated by another EHR technology which could be used to calculate CQMs
- Calculate – the capability of EHR technology to incorporate data (from other EHR technology where necessary) and correctly calculate the result for CQMs
- Report – the capability of EHR technology to create a standard data file that can be electronically accepted by Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS)
The beta release will be followed by installation by authorized testing labs in December with a program certification start date of January 2, 2013.
Learn more about the Cypress tool and the stages of its development and milestones.