Contact the Tennessee QIO for more details Center for Healthcare Quality, QSource See QIO success in other states Success Stories: TENNESSEE

By partnering with QSource, the Tennessee QIO, Premier Medical Group in Clarksville improved outpatient care for Medicare beneficiaries from August 1999 to August 2004. Statistics indicate that 99.5 percent of patients with diabetes had at least one hemoglobin A1c checkup during 2004 (compared to the national rate of 78 percent), cholesterol test rates increased from 68 percent to 82 percent, and patients with a LDL target of 100 or less rose from 19 percent to 41.5 percent (CMS and national rates are 27 percent). Working with QSource, the Medicare QIO for Tennessee, Northcrest Home Health agency in rural Springfield, Tennessee successfully used the Outcome-Based Quality Improvement process from May 2002 to September 2003 to improve outcomes in Improvement in Bathing for patients. More specifically, the agency achieved a rate of 64 percent, a significant increase over its prior year rate of 47.9 percent. QSource, the Tennessee QIO, has made strides in helping hospitals administer antibiotics on time all the time. As part of a collaborative with QSource from 2003 to 2004, Memorial Healthcare System, Inc. in Chattanooga improved performance on the “timing of initial antibiotic” measure from 67.4 to 100 percent. University of Tennessee Medical Center revamps process for treating heart patients: The University of Tennessee Medical Center, a large urban teaching hospital in Knoxville, significantly improved care processes for heart patients by increasing the administration of ACE inhibitors for treatment of heart failure/ AMI by 32% and the administration of smoking cessation counseling by 60% during 2001-2002. Working with the Center for Healthcare Quality (CHQ), the Tennessee QIO, UT - Knoxville developed a clinical pathway, created corresponding standing orders, and instituted a formal smoking cessation education packet. CHQ assisted UT-Knoxville by teaching rapid cycle improvement strategies and holding workshops for sharing innovative ways to encourage process improvements. In a different collaboration with CHQ, UT - Knoxville reduced the timing to first dose of antibiotic in pneumonia by 27%.

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