Washington, DC – In testimony today before the U. S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health, Sallie Cook, MD, President of the American Health Quality Association urged lawmakers to follow the recommendations of a recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report and strengthen the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) program for the future. Provisions to modernize the QIO program are part of the Medicare Physician Payment Reform and Quality Improvement Act of 2006, HR 5866, introduced by Representative Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX) in July.

“Health care quality does not improve by itself,” Dr. Cook said. “It takes hard work. Physicians, nurses, and other professionals benefit from our expert help identifying quality gaps, and learning how to close those gaps. QIOs offer the only coordinated nationwide field force of experts dedicated to understanding the latest strategies in quality improvement and working to share these with local health professionals.”

Dr. Cook also referred to the IOM’s recent report on pay for performance which characterized the QIO program as an “important national resource in building the necessary infrastructure” for the improvement assistance that providers need to qualify for payment incentives. “We hope you will strengthen this invaluable program by passing Dr. Burgess’ visionary legislation and making the program a central fixture in our collective drive to provide the right care to every patient, every time,” she told the Subcommittee.

Congressman Burgess’ bill would enact most of the recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its March report to Congress, Medicare’s Quality Improvement Organization Program: Maximizing Potential. Recognizing that QIOs play an integral role in federal performance improvement initiatives, the IOM recommended that Congress modernize the program to fully realize it’s potential. Among other things, HR 5866 would:

• Codify the quality improvement efforts of QIOs such as helping providers redesign care processes, adopt health information technology, decrease health disparities, and collect, submit, and report data on quality measures – efforts that build the data collection infrastructure needed for quality measurement and pay for performance.
• Improve the way QIOs handle complaints from Medicare beneficiaries about quality of care by making the process and outcomes more transparent and patient-centered.
• Strengthen QIO governance by holding the organizations to high standards of accountability.
• Increase contractor competition.
• Open the door for QIOs to contract with state Medicaid programs and other public or private entities, as a way to leverage Medicare’s investment in quality improvement to help more providers and patients.

Dr. Cook also asked the subcommittee to consider tasking QIOs with new work on efficiency measures, noting that they “should be based on the cost of providing high quality care.” In an example of related work that QIOs are already undertaking, Dr. Cook pointed to a QIO initiative aimed at preventing unnecessary hospital admissions that CMS staff estimate has saved Medicare tens of millions of dollars.

AHQA represents the national network of QIOs, which work for a variety of public and private organizations, including the Medicare program to improve care for the American public.