Smile CDR v2024.05.PRE
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23.3.1Measures

 

23.3.1.1Introduction

The FHIR Clinical Reasoning Module defines the Measure resource and several associated operations. The Measure Resource represents a structured, computable definition of a health-related measure such as a clinical quality measure, public health indicator, or population analytics measure. These Measures can then be used for reporting, analytics, and data-exchange purposes.

Electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs) in FHIR are represented as a FHIR Measure resource containing metadata and terminology, a population criteria section, and at least one FHIR Library resource containing a data criteria section as well as the logic used to define the population criteria. The population criteria section typically contains initial population criteria, denominator criteria, and numerator criteria subcomponents, among others. This is elaborated upon in greater detail in the CQF Measures IG. An example of an eCQM as defined in FHIR looks like:

{
  "resourceType" : "Measure",
  "library" : [
    "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/cqfmeasures/Library/EXMLogic"
  ],
  "group" : [
    {
      "population" : [
        {
          "code" : {
            "coding" : [
              {
                "code" : "initial-population"
              }
            ]
          },
          "criteria" : {
            "language" : "text/cql-identifier",
            "expression" : "Initial Population"
          }
        },
        {
          "code" : {
            "coding" : [
              {
                "code" : "numerator"
              }
            ]
          },
          "criteria" : {
            "language" : "text/cql-identifier",
            "expression" : "Numerator"
          }
        },
        {
          "code" : {
            "coding" : [
              {
                "code" : "denominator"
              }
            ]
          },
          "criteria" : {
            "language" : "text/cql-identifier",
            "expression" : "Denominator"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Measures are then scored according the whether a subjects (or subjects) are members of the various populations.

For example, a Measure for Breast Cancer screening might define an Initial Population (via CQL expressions) of "all women", a Denominator of "women over 35", and a Numerator of "women over 35 who have had breast cancer screenings in the past year". If the Measure is evaluated against a population of 100 women, 50 are over 35, and of those 25 have had breast cancer screenings in the past year, the final score would be 50%1 (total number in numerator / total number in the denominator).

  1. There are several methods for scoring Measures, this is meant only as an example.

23.3.1.2Operations

Smile CDR implements the $evaluate-measure operation. Support for additional operations is planned.

23.3.1.3Evaluate Measure

The $evaluate-measure operation is used to execute a Measure as specified by the relevant FHIR Resources against a subject or set of subjects. This implementation currently focuses primarily on supporting the narrower evaluation requirements defined by the CQF Measures IG. Some support for extensions defined by other IGs is included as well, and the implementation aims to support a wider range of functionality in the future.

23.3.1.3.1Example Measure

Several example Measures are available in the ecqm-content-r4 IG. Full Bundles with all the required supporting resources are available here. You can download a Bundle and load it on your server as a transaction:

POST http://your-server-base/fhir BreastCancerScreeningFHIR-bundle.json

These Bundles also include example Patient clinical data so once posted Measure evaluation can be invoked with:

GET http://your-server-base/fhir/Measure/BreastCancerScreeningFHIR/$evaluate-measure?periodStart=2019-01-01&periodEnd=2019-12-31&subject=numerator&reportType=subject

23.3.1.3.2Measure Features

The FHIR Measure specification defines several types of Measures and various parameters for controlling the Measure evaluation. This section describes the features supported by Smile CDR.

23.3.1.3.2.1Reporting Period

The periodStart and periodEnd parameters are used to control the Reporting Period for which a report is generated. This corresponds to Measurement Period defined in the CQL logic, as defined by the conformance requirements in the CQF Measures IG. Both periodStart and periodEnd must be used or neither must be used.

If neither are used the default reporting period specified in the CQL logic is used, as shown here

parameter "Measurement Period" Interval<DateTime>
  default Interval[@2019-01-01T00:00:00.0, @2020-01-01T00:00:00.0)

If neither are used and there is no default reporting period in the CQL logic an error is thrown.

A request using periodStart and periodEnd looks like:

GET fhir/Measure/<MeasureId>/$evaluate-measure?periodStart=2019-01-01&periodEnd=2019-12-31

periodStart and periodEnd support Dates (YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD) and DateTimes (YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss+zz:zz)

23.3.1.3.2.2Report Types

Measure report types determine what data is returned from the evaluation. This is controlled with the reportType parameter on the $evaluate-measure Operation

Report TypeSupportedDescription
subjectMeasure report for a single subject (e.g. one patient). Includes additional detail, such as evaluatedResources
subject-listMeasure report including the list of subjects in each population (e.g. all the patients in the "numerator")
populationSummary measure report for a population

NOTE: There's an open issue on the FHIR specification to align these names to the MeasureReportType value set.

A request using reportType looks like:

GET fhir/Measure/<MeasureId>/$evaluate-measure?reportType=subject-list

23.3.1.3.2.3Subject Types

The subject of a measure evaluation is controlled with the subject (R4+) and patient (DSTU3) operation parameters. Currently, the only subject type supported by Smile CDR is Patient. This means that all Measure evaluation and reporting happens with respect to a Patient or set of Patient resources.

Subject TypeSupportedDescription
PatientA Patient
PractitionerA Practitioner
OrganizationAn Organization
LocationA Location
DeviceA Device
Group1A set of subjects
  1. See next section

A request using subject looks like:

GET fhir/Measure/<MeasureId>/$evaluate-measure?subject=Patient/123
23.3.1.3.2.3.1Selecting a set of Patients

The set of Patients used for Measure evaluation is controlled with the subject (R4+) or patient (DSTU3), and practitioner parameters. The two parameters are mutually exclusive.

ParameterSupportedDescription
Not specifiedAll Patients on the server
subject=XXX or subject=Patient/XXXA single Patient
practitioner=XXX or practitioner=Practitioner/XXXAll Patients whose generalPractitioner is the referenced Practitioner
subject=Group/XXX1A Group containing subjects
subject=XXX AND practitioner=XXXNot a valid combination
  1. Currently only Groups containing Patient resources are supported

A request using practitioner looks like:

GET fhir/Measure/<MeasureId>/$evaluate-measure?practitioner=Practitioner/XYZ

23.3.1.3.2.4ReportType, Subject, Practitioner Matrix

The following table shows the combinations of the subject (or patient), practitioner and reportType parameters that are valid

subject reportTypesubject-list reportTypepopulation reportType
subject parameter 1,2 1,2
practitioner parameter3
  1. Including the subject parameter restricts the Measure evaluation to a single Patient. Omit the subject (or patient) parameter to get report for multiple Patients. The subject-list and population report types have less detail than a subject report.
  2. A Group subject with a subject-list or population reportType will be a valid combination once Group support is implemented.
  3. A practitioner have may zero, one, or many patients so a practitioner report always assumes a set.

23.3.1.3.2.5Scoring Methods

The Measure scoring method determines how a Measure score is calculated. It is set with the scoring element on the Measure resource.

The Smile CDR implementation conforms to the requirements defined by the CQF Measures IG. A more detailed description of each scoring method is linked in the table below.

Scoring MethodSupportedDescription
proportionProportion Measures
ratioRatio Measures
continuous-variableContinuous Variable
cohort*Cohort
compositeSee below
  • The cohort Measure scoring support is partial. The Smile CDR implementation does not yet return the required Measure observations

An example Measure resource with scoring defined looks like:

{
  "resourceType": "Measure",
  "scoring": {
    "coding": [ {
      "system": "http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/measure-scoring",
      "code": "proportion",
      "display": "Proportion"
    } ]
  }
}
23.3.1.3.2.5.1Composite Scoring

A composite Measure is scored by combining and/or aggregating the results of other Measures. The compositeScoring element is used to control how composite Measures are scored. Smile CDR does not currently support any composite scoring method.

Composite Scoring MethodSupportedDescription
opportunityCombines Numerators and Denominators for each component Measure
all-or-nothingIncludes individuals that are in the numerator for all component Measures
linearGives an individual score based on the number of numerators in which they appear
weightedGives an individual a cored based on a weighted factor for each numerator in which they appear

23.3.1.3.2.6Populations

Smile CDR uses the populations defined by the CQF Measures IG for each scoring type. A matrix of the supported populations is shown in the Criteria Names section of the CQF Measures IG.

23.3.1.3.2.7Population Criteria

The logical criteria used for determining each Measure population is defined by the Measure.group.population.criteria element. The Measure specification allows population criteria to be defined using FHIR Path, CQL, or other languages as appropriate. Smile CDR currently only supports using CQL. The relationship between a Measure Population and CQL is illustrated in the Population Criteria section of the CQF Measures IG.

An example Measure resource with a population criteria referencing a CQL identifier looks like:

{
  "resourceType": "Measure",
  "group": [ {
    "population": [ {
      "code": {
        "coding": [ {
          "system": "http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/measure-population",
          "code": "initial-population",
          "display": "Initial Population"
        } ]
      },
      "criteria": {
        "language": "text/cql-identifier",
        "expression": "Initial Population"
      }
    }]
  }]
}
23.3.1.3.2.7.1Criteria Expression Type
Expression TypeSupported
CQL
FHIR Path

23.3.1.3.2.8Supplemental Data Elements

Supplemental Data Elements are used to report additional information about the subjects that may not be included in the Population criteria definitions. For example, it may be of interest to report the gender of all subjects for informational purposes. Supplemental data elements are defined by the Measure.supplementalData element, and are reported as Observations in the evaluatedResources of the MeasureReport.

Supplemental Data Elements can be specified as either CQL definitions or FHIR Path expressions.

Expression TypeSupported
CQL
FHIR Path

An example Measure resource with some supplemental data elements set looks like:

{
"resourceType": "Measure",
   "supplementalData": [ {
      "code": {
         "text": "sde-ethnicity"
      },
      "criteria": {
         "language": "text/cql-identifier",
         "expression": "SDE Ethnicity"
      }
   }]
}

23.3.1.3.2.9Stratifiers

Stratifiers are used divide Measure populations into segments of interest. For example, it may be of interest to compare the Measure score between different age groups or genders. Each stratum within a stratification is scored the same way as the overall population. Stratifiers are defined using the Measure.group.stratifier element.

An example Measure resource with a stratifier set looks like:

{
  "resourceType": "Measure",
  "group": [ {
      "stratifier": [ {
         "code": {
            "text": "Stratum 1"
         },
         "criteria": {
            "language": "text/cql-identifier",
            "expression": "Stratification 1"
         }
      }]
   }]
}
23.3.1.3.2.9.1Stratifier Expression Support

As with Populations and Supplemental Data Elements the criteria used for Stratification may be defined with CQL or FHIR Path.

Expression TypeSupported
CQL
FHIR Path
23.3.1.3.2.9.2Stratifier Component Support

The Measure specification also supports multidimensional stratification, for cases where more than one data element is needed.

Stratifier TypeSupported
Single Component
Multi Component

23.3.1.3.2.10Evaluated Resources

A FHIR MeasureReport permits referencing the Resources used when evaluating in the MeasureReport.evaluatedResource element. Smile CDR includes these resources when generating subject reports for a single Patient. Evaluated resources for population or subject-list reports are not included. For large populations this could quickly become an extremely large number of resources.

The evaluated resources will not include every resource on the Smile CDR server for a given subject. Rather, it includes only the resources that were retrieved from the server by the CQL logic that was evaluated. This corresponds to the data-requirements for a given Measure. As an example, consider the following CQL:

valueset "Example Value Set" : 'http://fhir.org/example-value-set'

define "Example Observations":
   [Observation : "Example Value Set"]

That CQL will only select Observation Resources that have a code in the "Example Value Set". Those Observations will be reported in the Evaluated Resources while any others will not.

23.3.1.3.2.11Last Received On

The lastReceivedOn parameter is the date the Measure was evaluated and reported. It is used to limit the number of resources reported in the Measure report for individual reports. It is currently not supported by Smile CDR.

23.3.1.3.2.12Extensions

A number of extensions to Measure evaluation defined by various IGs are supported. They are described briefly in the table below.

ExtensionDescription
http://hl7.org/fhir/us/cqframework/cqfmeasures/StructureDefinition/cqfm-productLineUsed to evaluate different product lines (e.g. Medicare, Private, etc.)
http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/cqf-measureInfoUsed to denote a Measure Observation
http://hl7.org/fhir/us/davinci-deqm/StructureDefinition/extension-populationReferenceUsed to specify the population that triggered a particular evaluatedResource

There's not currently a way to configure which extensions are enabled. All supported extensions are always enabled.

23.3.1.4DQM Module

For large sets of subjects Smile CDR offers a scalable, distributed Digital Quality Measure engine as a premium solution. See DQM for more details.

23.3.1.5FAQs

Q: I get an error saying Smile CDR can't locate my library, and I've verified it's on the server.

A: Smile CDR follows the Library conformance requirements defined by the CQF Measures IG, meaning the Library must have a logic-library type, the name and versions of the FHIR Library and CQL Library must match, and the url of the Library must end in the name of the Library.

FHIR Libraries generated from CQL via the IG Publisher follow these requirements automatically.

Q: Does Smile CDR support partitions for evaluation?

A: Yes, though the Measure and associated Resources must be in the same partition as the clinical data being used.