June 26, 2024
Changes to Sex Elements July 1, 2024
The Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program specifications includes a change in Sex data elements that will impact future OP-18 data submission.
The Sex data element will be replaced by the Sex Assigned at Birth data element beginning with July 1, 2024, encounters.
- This will impact OP-18 data abstractions.
- The Sex data element will continue to be used for abstractions for encounter dates up to June 30, 2024.
- The numeric allowable values will be changed for encounters beginning July 1, 2024.
- This will impact your February 1, 2025, data submission which will need to contain this change from the Sex data element to the Sex Assigned at Birth data element.
- You will continue to report the Sex data elements for:
- OP-18 for the August 1, 2024, data submission (Q1 2024 encounters) and the
- November 1, 2024, data submission (Q2 2024 encounters).
- For CART users you will continue to report as you have using version CART version 1.24.0 until further notice.
What can hospitals do to prepare for this change?
- Inform EMR vendors and IT teams of this change beginning with July 1, 2024, encounters.
- It is important to align data elements with these changes for ease of abstraction of these encounters for the February 1, 2025, submission.
- CART users can continue using CART version 1.24.0 for submissions of Q1 2024 encounters and Q2 2024 encounters.
- The RQITA team anticipates a new version of CART will be released for encounters starting July 1, 2024, to use for submission due February 1, 2025.
- Connect with hospital leadership and clinical teams to ensure this information is captured for patient encounters starting July 1, 2024.
- Review the measure specifications. Page 2-48 of the Hospital Outpatient Measure Specifications version 17.0a contains detailed information regarding the changes.
- Signup to the CART listserv to be the first to know about changes https://qualitynet.cms.gov/listserv-signup.