If your agency keys OASIS assessments into iQIES by hand, December 31, 2026 is the last day iQIES's data-entry software accepts assessments dated January 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026. CMS retired that software for assessments with target dates on or after April 1, 2026, when OASIS-E2 started. CMS's notice: "Future data will need to be uploaded in the correct format." Agencies whose software sends OASIS to iQIES as files are not affected.
Updated November 12, 2026. Sources: QTSO, OASIS iQIES Software Discontinuation (opens in a new tab), February 24, 2026, and the same notice in CMS's HH QRP Spotlight archive (opens in a new tab), dated February 18, 2026.
What CMS Announced
The notice, in full: CMS "is officially discontinuing the legacy Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) front-end user interface (data entry software for manually creating assessments) effective April 1, 2026. Home Health Agencies (HHA's) will not be able to use this software to directly input assessment data for OASIS assessments with target dates on or after 4/1/2026. Prior assessments (dated 1/1/2025 – 3/31/2026) will be accepted until 12/31/2026. Future data will need to be uploaded in the correct format."
| Assessments with target dates | iQIES data-entry software | Source |
|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026 | Accepted until December 31, 2026 | QTSO notice, February 24, 2026 |
| On or after April 1, 2026 (OASIS-E2) | Not available since April 1, 2026. "Future data will need to be uploaded in the correct format." | QTSO notice, February 24, 2026 |
| Before January 1, 2025 | The notice does not say |
The "file" route is what most agencies already use: the agency's software builds one XML file per assessment to CMS's data specifications, zips them, and sends them to iQIES. The OASIS manual's submission chapter walks through it.
Who This Affects
Agencies that create OASIS records by typing them into iQIES itself, usually small agencies without an EHR that transmits OASIS. If your EHR or OASIS software sends the records, nothing changes for you on December 31.
What to Do Before December 31
- Find anything dated January 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026 that never made it in. Check your iQIES submission reports against your clinical records. Any assessment still missing should go in now. It is already late: 42 CFR 484.45(a) requires each completed assessment to be transmitted "within 30 days of completing the assessment of the patient," and CMS counted the CY 2027 annual payment update on assessments submitted by August 5, 2026. A late record still belongs in the patient's iQIES history.
- Ask about corrections now. The notice says "prior assessments" will be accepted. It does not say whether the data-entry screens will take a modification or an inactivation of one of those records until December 31. If you might need to correct one, ask the iQIES Service Center (iqies@cms.hhs.gov (opens in a new tab), 1-800-339-9313) before the date passes.
- Have a way to build files for 2027. After December 31, the notice gives no route for these older assessments except an upload. Records in that window predate OASIS-E2, which took effect April 1, 2026; CMS's guidance manual lists OASIS-E1 as the version that took effect in 2025. CMS's Data Specifications (opens in a new tab) page carries both sets of file specifications: OASIS-E1 version 3.01.1 and OASIS-E2 version 3.02.0.
- Make sure two people can sign in to iQIES. CMS posts submission reports and payment notices there.
| Date | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| April 1, 2026 | iQIES data-entry software retired for assessments with target dates on or after this date; OASIS-E2 starts | QTSO notice, February 24, 2026 |
| December 31, 2026 | Last day the data-entry software accepts assessments dated January 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026 | QTSO notice, February 24, 2026 |
| Every assessment | Transmit within 30 days of completing it | 42 CFR 484.45(a) |
Related
- Submitting OASIS to iQIES: files, the validation report and rejections
- OASIS-E2 changes in April 2026
- All-payer OASIS in 2027: from January 1, 2027, non-Medicare, non-Medicaid admissions count toward the 90 percent threshold
- OASIS APU reconsideration by November 23, 2026
- The OASIS-E2 Submission Validator checks an E2 record against the fatal iQIES edits agencies hit most, and the OASIS Edit Code Lookup reads any edit ID back to CMS's rule.
Key Takeaways
- iQIES's data-entry software stopped taking OASIS assessments with target dates on or after April 1, 2026.
- Assessments dated January 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026 can still be typed in until December 31, 2026.
- After that, CMS's notice gives one route: upload a file built to CMS's data specifications.
- CMS has not said whether corrections to those older records can still be typed in. Ask the iQIES Service Center before December 31.
Sources
- QTSO, OASIS iQIES Software Discontinuation (opens in a new tab), February 24, 2026 (last modified February 24, 2026). Read November 7, 2026.
- CMS, Home Health QRP Spotlight and Announcements, archive (opens in a new tab): the notices of February 18 and February 26, 2026.
- CMS, Home Health Data Specifications (opens in a new tab): OASIS-E2 Data Specs V3.02.0 and OASIS-E1 Data Specs V3.01.1.
- 42 CFR 484.45 (opens in a new tab), Condition of participation: Reporting OASIS information.
- CMS, Home Health Quality Reporting Data Submission Deadlines (opens in a new tab): the CY 2027 APU counted assessments submitted by August 5, 2026.
- The iQIES Service Center contact is as CMS lists it on its HH QRP Spotlight (opens in a new tab).