The Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organizations (QIN-QIOs) were prominently featured for their hard work and innovation at the recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Quality Conference. This unique, annual event brings healthcare quality improvement professionals together with administration leaders to collaborate, share, and build upon their work.
While making up only a portion of the estimated 2,600 attendees, the QIN-QIOs played a comparatively outsized role in their contributions by being featured in many panels and standing room-only presentations.
The QIN-QIOs’ high profile in the conference was a further demonstration of the impact that they have nationwide in putting patients over paperwork (one of the themes of this year’s conference) and in improving the quality of healthcare for Medicare beneficiaries.
“Each year the QIN-QIOs deploy new and innovative approaches that successfully deliver high-impact quality improvement for Medicare patients,” said Alison Teitelbaum, executive director of AHQA. “Through these tailored interventions, the QIN-QIO Program contributes to hundreds of millions of dollars of savings for the government each year while, at the same time, reduces burdens on providers and continually puts patients first,” continued Teitelbaum.
During the Quality Conference, representatives from the QIN-QIO community also leveraged their expertise to identify new and emerging health issues, as well as scalable innovative pilot initiatives, that could be included in future work.
Opioid misuse and behavioral health concerns dominated these conversations, with many QIN-QIOs showcasing preliminary results from recently piloted innovative regional projects. These programs will be further highlighted at AHQA’s Quality Summit, taking place July 9-10, 2018 in Baltimore, MD.
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.