Working to improve health care
AFMC works in collaboration with Arkansas Medicaid to help the state’s health care professionals and hospitals to offer the best quality care. In 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) transitioned the Quality Improvement Organization program to a regional structure now referred to as the Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) program. The new region is led by TMF in Texas and includes Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Puerto Rico, with AFMC responsible for assisting providers in Arkansas. As a QIN-QIO, TMF and their subcontractor, AFMC, work side-by-side with providers and patients to significantly improve health care quality.
Together, we’re dedicated to building a better, safer health care system for all Arkansans.
Antibiotic Stewardship and Infection Prevention Collaborative
Antibiotic Stewardship
Improving antibiotic use could help reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions in health care settings. When antibiotics are taken when they aren't needed, they won't help patients get better, and the side effects harmful. Improving the way health care professionals prescribe antibiotics and the way patients take antibioics will help us stay healthy help fight antibioitic resistance, and ensure that life-saving antibiotics will be available for future generations.
Prevention of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms (MDROs)
MDROs are microorganisms, predominantly bacteria, that are resistant to one or more classes of antimicrobial agents. The prevalence of MDROs in U.S. hospitals and medical centers has steadily increased over the last few decades. Although transmission of MDROs is frequently documented in acute care facilities, all health care settings are affected by the emergence and transmission of antimicrobial-resistant microbes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevention and control of MDROs is a national priority — one that requires all health care facilities and agencies to assume responsibility.
Antibiotic Stewardship and Infection Prevention Collaborative Resources
Critical Access Hospitals (CAH)
The Critical Access Hospital (CAH) contract is an annual contract with the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) Office of Rural Health and Primary Care. The aim of the contract is to support CAHs with reporting and quality improvement on the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Program (MBQIP) measures. This includes making site visits, phone calls and virtual meetings with the quality staff at the facility.
CAH Contract Activities
- Work with hospital cohorts that consist of low-performing CAHs to increase the number of CAHs in the state achieving defined performance levels on quality measures
- Provide two annual educational sessions and one virtual site visit for each cohort — these sessions facilitate learning in small groups and provide a forum for education on new, innovative strategies for improving quality improvement scores and sharing best practices
- Provide technical assistance to aid in improving Core Patient Safety/Inpatient, Core Patient Engagement, Core Care Transition and Outpatient measures.
To learn more visit Arkansas Department of Health | National Rural Health Resource Center
Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS)
Hospital Quality Improvement Contractors (HQIC)
Hospital Quality Improvement Contractors (HQIC)
The CMS QIO Program is one of the largest federal programs dedicated to improving the quality of health care at the community level. Hospital Quality Improvement Contractors (HQICs) are strategic partners of the QIO Program that work within hospital settings to support the CMS QIO Program's mission to improve the quality of health care at the community level. HQICs' initiatives are designed to improve health care quality, access, value and equity for people with Medicare.
In October 2020, TMF Health Quality Institute was awarded the four-year contract to serve as an HQIC to provide targeted quality improvement assistance to small, rural and critical access hospitals which have been identified by CMS as requiring technical assistance. HQICs are directed to use innovation to drive results and to implement data-driven quality improvement interventions to assist hospitals in ensuring the safety and quality of care delivered to all Medicare beneficiaries. As a subcontracting partner with TMF Health Quality Institute, AFMC provides targeted quality improvement technical assistance to participating Arkansas and Mississippi hospitals.
Medicaid Quality improvement (MQI)
MQI Team
AFMC’s Medicaid Quality Improvement (MQI) team works directly with health care providers on specific projects to improve patient care and compliance. Projects are selected for each state fiscal year in conjunction with Arkansas Medicaid and are based on data analysis and research that demonstrates improvement in the project area can be achieved through provider/patient education and awareness.
Once the project is selected, tools and materials are developed for both patients and health care professionals. Team members meet with providers to assess the provider/practice’s needs and offer real-world guidance and assistance.
QIN-QIO
CMS — Quality Innovation Network (QIN)-Quality Improvement Organization (QIO)
The CMS Quality Innovation Network (QIN)-Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) is a collaborative effort to accomplish better care, better health for people and communities and more affordable care through quality improvement. This program engages providers, patients, caregivers and stakeholders in Learning and Action Networks focused on various quality improvement initiatives. These networks serve as information hubs for learning, collaborating and elevating the voice of the patient.
Since 1984, TMF has been under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Texas, improving care provided to Medicare beneficiaries through cooperative efforts with the health care community. In 2019, TMF became the Quality Innovation Network (QIN) QIO for Arkansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Puerto Rico, Texas and the U.S. Virgin Islands with TMF's subcontractor, AFMC, being responsible for working side by side with providers and patients in Arkansas and Mississippi to significantly improve health care quality.
QIO Priority Areas
- Reducing health care disparities
- Supporting vulnerable populations
- Supporting rural communities
- Increasing person and family engagement
QIO Strategic Goals Include
- Behavioral health outcomes and decreasing opioid misuse
- Patient safety
- Chronic disease self-management
- Quality of care transitions
- Nursing home quality
