The QIO Program, Home Health, and the National Acute Care Hospitalization Priority

Abstract

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), previously the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has been committed to improving the quality of care to Medicare beneficiaries since the inception of the Medicare Program. This commitment is evident in the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program. In 2003, the QIOs worked to promote public reporting and the Home Health Compare Web site and improving the performance on publicly reported quality measures. Beginning in 2005, the QIO work in home health expanded to include adult immunizations, telehealth, and organizational culture. Currently, the QIOs primarily focuses efforts on the home health national-priority topic of reducing avoidable hospitalizations as measured by the publicly reported measure of acute care hospitalization or ACH. The focus on reducing avoidable hospitalizations became heightened with the yearlong Home Health Quality Improvement National Campaign, which began in January 2007.