2016 Progress Report Shows Achievements in Care Coordination and Quality Improvement

For Immediate Release
Date: May 24, 2017
Contact: Jonathan Gilad
Phone: 571-989-4173
Email:

Millions of Medicare Beneficiaries Benefit from the Work of Quality Improvement Organizations Across the Country

2016 Progress Report Shows Achievements in Care Coordination and Quality Improvement

McLean, Virginia – Millions of Medicare beneficiaries from across the country benefited from the vital work of Quality Improvement Organizations (QIO) in 2016. QIOs work regionally with healthcare providers via 14 Quality Improvement Networks (QIN) to improve the health quality of Medicare beneficiaries. The breadth, depth, and scope of their work are detailed in the 2016 Progress Report, released last week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

A few highlights from the 2016 Progress Report include (all numbers are for 2016):

·  Over 24,300 readmissions to hospitals were avoided (with 350 communities engaged on how to reduce readmissions affecting a potential 23 million beneficiaries).

·  27,850+ Medicare beneficiaries completed Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME).

·  3.7 million Medicare beneficiaries were impacted through education and outreach about the importance of immunization.

·  Over 544,250 Pneumonia and flu immunizations administrated by clinicians and healthcare practices participating with QIOs.

·  Approximately 662, 750 medication errors were avoided.

·  1.2 million Beneficiaries at high risk for an Adverse Drug Effect (ADE) were screened, avoiding medication regime problems and unnecessary pain.

These numbers emphasize the extraordinary impact the QIN-QIO program has on improving the quality of health for Medicare beneficiaries, which also reduces costs to CMS and the federal government.

“The Progress Report crystalizes the importance of the QIN-QIO Network and why it is the pre-eminent quality improvement program throughout the federal government. Thousands of practices and healthcare providers participate with the QIN-QIO program ensuring that we are on the ground working with almost every community across the country,” said Jane Brock, MD, MSPH, president of the American Health Quality Association (AHQA), the leading trade association for the QIN-QIO program.

“The QIN-QIO program helps put patients first by improving the quality of care they receive as part of Medicare. It’s thanks to the QIN-QIO program’s infrastructure that we continue to see advancement on all fronts in quality improvement for Medicare beneficiaries,” said Alison Teitelbaum, MS, MPH, CAE, executive director of AHQA.

The 14 QINs work with providers, community partners, and Medicare beneficiaries to improve patient safety, reduce health care disparities, and other multiple, data-driven quality improvement measures. This progress report shows the achievements that were made across the various scopes of work that have been laid out for the QIN-QIO program for implementation by CMS.

Since 1984 the American Health Quality Association (AHQA) has represented Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) and other professionals working to improve health care quality and patient safety. AHQA is an educational, not-for-profit national membership association dedicated to promoting and facilitating fundamental change that improves the quality of health care in America.