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October 10, 2019

Home Health Agencies Need to Register for an Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) Account

The Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES), which providers and vendors use to submit assessment data, is being upgraded to make the system more reliable, scalable, secure, and accessible.  The enhancements will occur in phases (by provider type) and began with Long- Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) in March 2019, to be followed by Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) in October 2019 and Home Health Agencies (HHAs) in January 2020.  The enhanced system is referred to as the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES).

The initial rollout of iQIES will not change how providers or vendors submit data. However, iQIES will require a new user management system because virtual private network (VPN) and CMSNet are no longer needed to access this system.  All users will have to create an account and establish credentials in the Healthcare Quality Information System (HCQIS) Access, Roles and Profile system (HARP).  HARP is a secure identity management portal that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides.

Through HARP, the level of access for iQIES will be similar to the roles that exist in QIES but with the addition of a Provider Security Official (PSO).  The individual designated as the PSO will be responsible for approving or rejecting iQIES user access requests for their respective organizations, including vendors.

For your organization to receive access to iQIES, you must first complete the steps below according to the following schedule:

  1. Identify an individual who will be the Provider Security Official (PSO).
  1. Register the PSO in the Healthcare Quality Information System (HCQIS) Access Roles and Profile (HARP) system hereExternal Website .
  1. After your MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) is complete, choose the iQIES application presented to you to request your Security Official role. Alternatively, you can access iQIES here to complete your role requestExternal Website.

Please note that at this time, only certified HHAs will be onboarded to iQIES. For assistance with HARP onboarding or other questions, users can call the QTSO Helpdesk at (800) 339–9313 or email help@qtso.com. If you have any questions related to iQIES, please send them to iQIES_Broadcast@cms.hhs.gov.

The information in this article and more can be found on the CMS websiteExternal Website

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