Imagine…Every Patient Receiving the Right Care Every Time
The QIO program, administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), helps ensure Medicare beneficiaries get the best quality healthcare possible. Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs), contracted with CMS, are a nationwide network of community-based experts dedicated to ensuring every patient receives the right care every time.
QIOs work throughout the health care system to spread best practices, reduce medical errors and create more efficient systems of care. Working hand-in-hand with physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, health plans and pharmacists, QIOs provide technical support, mentoring and education to improve health care quality. QIOs also protect Medicare beneficiaries and the Medicare program by responding to patient complaints about quality of care as well as appeals of discharge decisions. No other group has the experience or breadth to provide such intensive hands-on assistance in every state and territory in the U.S.
How do we do it?
Quality Improvement work with providers is structured around four key strategies:
- measure and report performance
- promote the use of health information technology
- redesign care processes
- transform organizational culture
What can you expect from the QIO program?
- Hospital treatments will be safer, with fewer errors, resulting in fewer infections.
- Nursing homes will offer a more patient-directed experience with services based on the residents' needs.
- Technology will be implemented to assist providers in meeting their patients' needs.
- Home health care will accelerate patient recovery and reduce hospitalizations.
Read more about the QIO Program History.
Download the Medicare Program Priorities Booklet - Describe CMS' priorities for the QIO Program during the period August 2005-July 2008.