EQRS and EDI Development Alignment Process

Stage	Description	Presentation Meeting	Frequency
Funnel	CMS seeks input on features under consideration that will impact EDI Submitters so they can begin to prepare for possible changes to their systems. *These features have not been designed or built, and may or may not be selected for future development.* CMS cannot share information about changes or features that are in procurement or are rule-sensitive.	EQRS Program Working Group Meeting	Every other Wednesday
Shallow Dive	CMS presents features that will impact EDI submitters which are under consideration for an upcoming program increment. Feature pages which describe, at a high level, the business objectives, business description, business hypothesis, acceptance criteria, dependencies, and assumptions are published on the public Confluence page. https://qnetconfluence.cms.gov/display/ELDF/Resources+and+References *These features may or may not be selected for future development.*	EQRS Program Working Group Meeting	Every other Wednesday
Post Program Increment Planning	CMS presents features selected for the current program increment that will impact the EDI Submitters. The feature pages that are published on Confluence are updated with additional information. Changes to published features will be presented and any updates to feature pages will be published. If a feature is newly discovered and was not previously presented, the feature page will be published on the public Confluence page.	EQRS Program Working Group Meeting	Every other Wednesday
Development Cycle	CMS will share XSD/XML files as soon as it is technically feasible during development or when a feature has been moved to the Prod Preview environment. CMS will notify EDI Submitters by email when features are deployed to the Prod Preview environment. These will be working sessions for discussing development, test and feedback files, and any technical questions. EDI Submitters will provide their progress in updating their systems. These files will be published on the Confluence page. https://qnetconfluence.cms.gov/display/ELDF/Documentation+Repository Files specific to each feature will be linked to the feature page published on the public Confluence page. https://qnetconfluence.cms.gov/display/ELDF/Resources+and+References *These files are a work-in-progress and are subject to change. There is an inherent risk that some rework may be necessary.*	EDI Touchpoint Status Meeting	Every Friday
Ready for Production	CMS seeks input from EDI Submitters about feature testing or other criteria prior to deployment to Production. CMS will notify EDI Submitters by email when features are deployed to Production.	EDI Touchpoint Status Meeting	Every Friday

How Do We Communicate?

Meeting Name	Description	Participants	Frequency
EQRS Program Working Group Meeting	CMS Program meets with the EDI Submitters to discuss program related topics about business rules, implementation guidelines, and future planning. This is the forum in which to ask questions about the ESRD program; it is not a technical call.	CMS Program (iQIIG, QMVIG), EDI Submitters, CMS Support Contractors	Every Other Wednesday 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST
EDI Touchpoint Status Meeting	These are working sessions for discussing development, test and feedback files, and any technical questions. EDI Submitters will provide their progress in updating their systems.	CMS (ISG), EDI Submitters, ADO, CMS Support Contractors	Every Friday 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. EST
EQRS System Demo	A recurring ceremony that demonstrates new development completed during the most recent two-week iteration. EDI Submitters are strongly encouraged to attend the system demos so that they can raise any questions or concerns during the Wednesday Program Working Group meetings.	CMS (ISG, iQIIG, QMVIG), EDI Submitters, ADO, ESRD Networks, CMS Support Contractors	Occurs one week after the end of the iteration.
EQRS Solution Demo	A recurring ceremony that demonstrates new development completed in the most recent 12-week program increment.	CMS (ISG, iQIIG, QMVIG), EDI Submitters, ADO, ESRD Networks, CMS Support Contractors	Occurs one week after the end of the program increment.