EQRS News Flash: SDOH Patient Screening Attestations

Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) Patient Screening Attestations Available in EQRS 

January 16, 2025

On January 1, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) patient screening attestations in the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Reporting System (EQRS). These attestations will be used to calculate the SDOH Screening Reporting measure and Screen Positive Rate for SDOH Reporting measure, which are part of the payment year 2027 ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) measure set. Further information on these measures is available at: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/cy-2025-final-technical-specifications.pdf (beginning on page 42). 

Submitting SDOH Patient Screening Attestations 

To access the SDOH Patient Screening attestation, log in to the Patient Registry and select Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) Patient Screening from the Patients drop-down tab (Figure 1).  

 Figure 1. Accessing the Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) Patient Screening  

Select a facility and Assessment Period (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Choose Facility and Assessment Period

Once you select the Assessment Period, a list of eligible patients appears. Click Enter Screening Data to begin entering screening data for each patient (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Select Patients

For each patient, enter whether the patient underwent screening for all SDOH factors during the assessment period (Figure 4). Users must select Yes or No.

Figure 4. Enter SDOH Screening Attestation.

If the patient was screened for all SDOH factors during the assessment period, select Yes. If the patient was not screened for all SDOH factors during the assessment period, users must select No and select the reason a patient was not screened (Figure 5). Once the attestation is completed, click Submit Screening (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Enter Reason Not Screened for ‘No’ Responses

Submitting Patient Screening Results 

If the patient was screened, indicate whether the patient’s screening result was positive for each of the SDOH factors. Select Yes if the patient screened positive during the assessment period, and No if the patient did not screen positive (Figure 6). Once screening results are entered, click Submit Screening (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Enter Screening Results

Reviewing and Editing Patient SDOH Screening Attestations 

Once attestations are entered, users may edit patient screening information during the open assessment period (Figure 7).

Figure 7. View/Edit Patient SDOH Screening Attestations

For assistance with EQRS technical issues, please contact the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ) Service Center. The CCSQ Service Center is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time and can be reached via phone at 866-288-8912, email at qnetsupport-esrd@cms.hhs.gov or online at the CCSQ Support Center.

For assistance with general EQRS and ESRD QIP questions, please contact the ESRD QIP Team via the QualityNet Q&A Tool.