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QIOs
Eye Mission: Better Reporting
By Ed Lovern
Better
public reporting of hospital quality measures is high on the draft agenda of Medicare's
newly named Quality Improvement Organizations.
The QIOs, the new
acronym for what once were called Peer Review Organizations, would conduct pilot
studies in a small number of states as a first step toward developing "a
national strategy for public reporting by hospitals." The explicit charge
is part of a draft document released today by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services.
The document, known
as the 7th Scope of Work, outlines a three-year work plan to begin August 2002
for the QIOs. There have been six previous three-year work plans for Medicare's
quality overseers.
The latest proposed
work plan directs QIOs to "serve as the local channel for heightening awareness
and use" of publicly available provider performance data--possibly by buying
media advertising, coordinating public information campaigns or having officials
deliver public speeches.
Medicare's 38 regional
QIOs now collectively receive more than $300 million annually to fulfill their
tasks. It's yet to be determined how much more money they will get to support
their now-broadened mission.
One three-year
goal would be advancing hospitals' capabilities to generate quality measurement
data, such as how much time elapses before pneumonia patients receive a first
dose of antibiotics. Such an effort would support work under way by the Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and some states that require
hospitals to report specific data on patient outcomes.
In exclusive stories,
the Daily Dose and Modern Healthcare previously reported that the QIOs would take
on nursing home and home healthcare quality--moving beyond their historical focus
on hospitals and physicians--and next year would begin a five-state pilot of a
quality measurement program. Quality indicators picked last month include frequency
of bedsores and use of physical restraints.
The draft work
plan expands on CMS' expectations: QIOs should provide technical support to at
least 10% of nursing homes and at least 40% of home healthcare providers in their
contract area during the three-year period.
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