Facility MDS Submission Migration to iQIES in 2023 (SNF)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is preparing to release the Internet Quality Improvement Evaluation System (iQIES) for Minimum Data Set (MDS) submission in early 2023. The iQIES will consolidate and replace functionality from the Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES), Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (CASPER), and Automated Survey Process Environment (ASPEN) legacy systems.  

To comply with federal security mandates, CMS is initiating new security requirements for access control to CMS Quality Systems through Remote Identity Proofing (RIDP) via the Healthcare Quality Information Systems (HCQIS) Access, Roles and Profile Management System. To gain access, all current and future provider users will need to create an account and establish credentials in the HCQIS Access Roles and Profile System (HARP), which is a secure identity management portal provided by CMS. 

This transition process includes a new requirement for providers to identify an individual to act as the Provider’s Security Official (PSO). The PSO will need to be approved by CMS and will have the responsibility of approving all iQIES users for the individual provider organization, including any vendors that may be accessing iQIES on behalf of the provider. CMS recommends that providers designate at least two PSOs to ensure someone will be available to approve/reject any iQIES access requests for the provider. Users wanting to submit MDS data and for other purposes after the transition to iQIES in 2023 will not be granted access unless the PSO approves the request.  

Although the MDS submission functionality will not be available immediately, CMS is encouraging Provider Security Officials (PSO) to request access to iQIES as soon as possible. Having a PSO established would allow for a smoother transition prior to the go live date in early 2023. At a minimum, at least one PSO needs to be selected for every facility, but CMS highly recommends that at least two PSOs are designated so there is a higher likelihood that there will be someone available to approve/reject iQIES access requests. PSO onboarding for Michigan is scheduled for October 17, 2022 – October 28, 2022.

What does a PSO do?

The PSO is responsible for granting user roles in iQIES for the facility MDS staff. Without the approved user role, the facility cannot upload assessments or generate and view reports for their facility.

PSO User Information

• CMS recommends that every facility has at least two designated PSOs.
• The first PSO for the facility can only be approved by CMS.
• An existing PSO can approve additional PSO roles for their provider.
• A user must have PSO approval to access iQIES.
• The PSO receives email notifications when there are pending iQIES user role requests.

There are additional details below in the iQIES Onboarding Process Quick Reference Guide – Provider Security Official document. Page 2 contains instructions for creating a HARP (HCQIS Access Roles and Profile) and iQIES account. The HARP Registration training video is at HARP Registration – YouTube.

iQIES Onboarding Process Quick Reference Guide – Provider Security Official.pdf