The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a guide outlining participation, measure, scoring, certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT), and data submission requirements for eligible hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) participating in the Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program.
Hospitals and CAHs must report data for a continuous, self-selected 180-day EHR reporting period and submit web-based measure data and electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) data through the Hospital Quality Reporting Secure Portal between January 1 and March 1, 2027; eCQM submissions are due by March 1. Participants must earn at least 80 points, receive a nonzero score on every required measure, and submit eight eCQMs—five CMS-selected measures and three self-selected measures—for all four quarters of CY 2026.
Although CAHs are not required to participate in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program, they must meet the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program’s eCQM requirements. CAHs that do not successfully meet program requirements may have Medicare reimbursement reduced from 101 percent to 100 percent of reasonable costs for their FY 2026 cost reporting period. Hospitals and CAHs experiencing significant hardship may apply for an exception from the downward payment adjustment for reasons including insufficient internet connectivity, extreme and uncontrollable circumstances, certain vendor or CEHRT issues, or decertified EHR technology.