CMS’s Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ) is inviting providers to offer input on plans for redesigning the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program. By law, the mission of the QIO Program is to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, economy, and quality of services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries. QIOs convene providers, practitioners, and patients to build and share knowledge, spread best practices, and achieve wide-scale improvements in patient care, increases in population health, and decreases in health care costs.
CMS has just released the slides from the January 24th Special Open Door Forum, Future Development of the QIO: Getting Your Feedback. This invitation to provide comments on the future development of the QIO is an excellent opportunity for home health agencies to request the support and resources they deserve in the QIO program. Home health has been left out of the last two Scope of Work (SOW) plans, which focused on hospital and skilled nursing facilities. The 8th SOW was the last time the QIO focused on home health.
Home health agencies should write to CMS and advise them of ways that QIOs can provide home care with guidance and tools to effectively care for the millions of Medicare beneficiaries they serve, help them learn to comply with their treatment regimens, trouble shoot potential complications, and avoid costly emergent care and institutional services, as well as expand their involvement in preventative services,
Please share your comments and ideas on the role Quality Improvement Organizations can play in home health. Submit your comments to OCSQBox@cms.hhs.gov by Friday, February 8th at 5:00 p.m. ET
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