In three years, hospitals participating in the hospital quality incentive demonstration (HQID) have improved their composite quality scores by an average of 15.8 percentage points in clinical areas such heart attack, coronary artery bypass graft, heart failure, pneumonia, and patients with hip and knee replacements. The demonstration was launched in 2003 by CMS and the Premier Inc. Healthcare Alliance with 250 hospitals in 36 states.
Goals of the demonstration
The demonstration seeks to improve healthcare quality for hospital patients by paying for performance in health care using value-based purchasing (VBP) initiatives. Under the demonstration, a percentage of a hospital's payment for each discharge is contingent on the hospital's actual performance on a specific set of measures. In contrast, the current Medicare system pays a set amount for each discharge. Any change from the current payment system to standards used under the VBP initiatives would require new legislation.
The hospitals involved in the HQID demonstration include large/small, urban/rural, and teaching/non-teaching hospitals. The hospitals reported quality data in five areas: acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass graft, heart failure, pneumonia, and hip and knee replacement. Under the HQID demonstration, 15 of the hospitals moved from the bottom fifth to the top fifth in rankings for one or more of the clinical areas. Also, 112 of the top-performing hospitals received $7 million in incentive payments for substantial and continual advancement in quality of care. CMS extended the HQID project for three more years through September 2009.
Source: CMS News, June 17, 2008.
For more information on this and related topics, consult the CCH® Medicare and Medicaid Guide.
Visit our News Library to read more news stories.