IFMC Awarded Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update Contract
August 12, 2009
West Des Moines, Iowa - On July 31, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services awarded IFMC a competitive special project, Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update and Hospital Quality Alliance Reporting Activities. The RHQDAPU initiative, developed as a result of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, requires hospitals to submit data for specific quality measures to be eligible to receive their full annual payment from CMS.
The purpose of the project is to provide technical support all Quality Improvement Organizations across the country for Hospital Quality Data Reporting and to enhance their success in assisting the hospitals to improve care for patients.
In addition to giving hospitals a financial incentive to report the quality of their services and implement improvements based on results, the hospital reporting program provides CMS data to help consumers make more informed decisions about their health care.
The project is a two-year contract, with the period of performance from August 1, 2009 through July 31, 2011. As the support contractor, IFMC will assist QIOs and hospitals to implement the RHQDAPU program by resolving issues and improving processes associated with submission of inpatient hospital quality data.
“IFMC has been providing support to CMS and QIOs for the past seven years and we look forward to continuing and expanding our assistance during the next two years,” says Mary Cox, program director for hospital reporting. “We continue to provide technical assistance to CMS and QIOs, nationwide and are happy to assist in this quality improvement and reporting program.”
For additional information on this contract, please contact Kim Downs, senior director of operations at (515) 223-2883 or kdowns@ifmc.org.