CMS Launches New Home Health QI Initiative; Sign Up by Jan. 20 for Premier Status
A new Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) National Campaign was launched on January 13 with a “kick-off” event at CMS headquarters in Baltimore. Its goals are to improve the acute care hospitalization rate (reduce avoidable hospitalizations) and improve the management of oral medications. HCANH will serve as New Hampshire’s point of contact for providers who register to participate in the campaign. To obtain “premier status” and a few perks, register by midnight, January 20 at www.homehealthquality.org.
The campaign’s purpose is to unite home health agencies, stakeholders, and multiple health care settings under the shared vision of improving the quality of care home health patients receive, measured by a reduction in avoidable hospitalizations and improvement in management of oral medications. Although the campaign will be led by the home health community, partnerships will also be developed with other provider groups such as hospitals and physicians’ offices.
A focal point of the educational efforts will be the quarterly release of new multimedia Best Practice Intervention Packages designed to educate home health agencies. These free resources will be available to all participants. To set improvement targets and view rates related to the publicly reported acute care hospitalization and oral medication measures, the initiative will provide agencies with a free target setting tool through the reactivation of the Home Health STAR (Setting Targets Achieving Results) website.
The campaign is being led by West Virginia Medical Institute (WVMI) and Quality Insights, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for West Virginia.