Medicare Quality Improvement Organizations' Ambulatory Drug Therapy Improvement Activities and Partnerships With Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans and Medicare Advantage Plans

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) has provided an opportunity for quality improvement organizations (QIOs) to partner with Medicare Part D plan sponsors. These new relationships have developed into a set of diverse projects, each approved by the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services. OBJECTIVE: To provide information about the scope of the projects being conducted by the QIOs and their partners. SUMMARY: The document describes a variety of quality improvement projects addressing medication use by beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Part D.Private Medicare QIO contractors are implementing these projects in each state. Descriptions of each project were developed by individual QIOs with the assistance of lead staff for the Physician Practice/Pharmacy QIO SupportCenter for all QIOs nationwide. These projects vary in their complexity, in the quality measures used, and in the clinical processes and economic impact they seek to improve. The summaries in this supplement were prepared 6 months into ...