Quality Improvement Organizations
CMS [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] and our nation's QIOs [Quality Improvement Organizations] are unparalleled resources for the pursuit of improved quality of care in America. They have enormous experience, data, perspective and purpose, along with a deep commitment to the populations they serve. Properly mobilized, these treasures can help our health care system achieve unprecedented gains.
Don Berwick, MD, MPP, President and CEO the Institute for Healthcare Improvement
About the QIO Program
Medicare Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) work with consumers, physicians, hospitals, and other caregivers to refine care delivery systems to make sure patients get the right care at the right time, particularly among underserved populations. For more information on the QIO program, you can download a one-page informational PDF flyer. A flyer is also available for download on End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Networks.
The program also safeguards the integrity of the Medicare trust fund by ensuring payment is made only for medically necessary services, and investigates beneficiary complaints about quality of care.
Under the direction of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the program consists of a national network of fifty-three QIOs responsible for each U.S. state, territory, and the District of Columbia. To read more about the Program, click here.
If you would like to contact a QIO, click here for a comprehensive list of organizations around the country.
Extensive study of QIO program
Section 109 (d) of the Medicare Modernization Act tasked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) with evaluating the QIO program. The IOM study released its report, Medicare's Quality Improvement Organization Program: Maximizing Potential, in 2006.