Generate and submit a QRDA Category III aggregate eCQM report for CMS MIPS quality reporting

Steps

1. Confirm QRDA III is an accepted submission method for the current MIPS performance year and obtain the CMS-published QRDA III Implementation Guide, schematron, and sample files for that specific year, since requirements are updated annually.
2. Aggregate patient-level quality data across the MIPS-eligible population into a single QRDA III document per eCQM/Promoting Interoperability measure/Improvement Activity, unlike QRDA I which is one file per patient.
3. Populate required QRDA III header elements (reporting program, performance period, submitter and provider identifiers) per the current-year CMS IG.
4. Validate the generated XML against the current-year CMS-published schematron before submission to catch structural and value-set errors.
5. Submit via the CMS Quality Payment Program submission channel appropriate to your reporting entity, noting CMS also supports other collection types (e.g., QPP API/JSON, Part B claims, CMS Web Interface for certain APM entities).
6. Reconcile submitted numerator/denominator counts against source EHR data before the deadline, since QRDA III files do not always need to include pre-computed performance rates.