Quality
Assurance and Quality Improvement in Home and Community Based Services
MASSACHUSETTS
Grant
Information
Name of Grantee
University
of Massachusetts Medical School
Title of Grant
New England
Quality Improvement Collaborative
Type of Grant
Quality
Assurance and Quality Improvement in Home and Community Based Services
Amount of Grant
$499,226
Year Original Funding
Received
2004
Contact
Information
Dr. Steven Staugaitis, PI
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Room 105, Chang Building
222 Maple Avenue
Shrewsbury, MA 01545
508–856–7792
steven.staugaitis@umassmed.edu
Subcontractor(s)
R. Gettings
National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Systems
rgettings@nasddds.org
Target
Population(s)
People with mental retardation and/or
developmental disabilities (MR/DD).
Goals
- Develop a common
subset of standards, indicators, measures, and benchmarks to evaluate
quality in New England State HCBS services.
- Increase access to
information and resources regarding HCBS quality, best practices, and
quality improvement for MR/DD system stakeholders in New
England.
- Increase knowledge and
skill in using objective and quantitative information as a quality management
(QM) and quality improvement (QI) tool.
- Improve communication
and collaboration to promote oversight of HCBS programs between State
MR/DD agencies, State Medicaid agencies, and the CMS regional office.
- Develop and pilot
methods for sharing system and provider quality indicators and performance
with consumers and families to promote informed choice.
Activities
- Develop a series of
reports, including (1) best practices, current gaps, and recommended
standards and indicators for measuring and promoting quality in HCBS;
(2) common measures and a proposed quality report format;
(3) written guidelines for collecting a subset of objective quality
data; (4) tools and methods, including a database for collecting and
organizing the data; (5) a revised set of indicators and measures for
participating states; (6) a standard database and accompanying
instructions and guidelines; (7) quality reports with common elements
and benchmarks across a minimum of five states; and (8) formal State
policies, procedures, and protocols.
- Establish a virtual
library of quality resources and tools available to New
England stakeholders (consumers, families, providers, and
personnel).
- Conduct
teleconferences for New
England State
personnel and annual meetings for New England State MR/DD leaders, QM
Committee representatives, and QA/QI personnel.
- Conduct training
workshops for State staff on use of quantitative information and develop a
resource workbook on effective use of objective and quantitative
information for evaluating and improving the quality of HCBS services.
- Establish a Quality
Council in Massachusetts
and conduct two annual conferences on quality management.
- Conduct meetings for
New England State MR/DD leaders and joint meetings with State Medicaid
leadership; invite participation of CMS regional office personnel in
development of standards, indicators, and measures; and to participate in
training sessions.
- Develop prototype
risk-adjusted performance/benchmark measures and reports.
- Develop
consumer-friendly performance profiles and prepare a report for MR/DD
leadership with recommendations on information consumers/families find
most useful and on full implementation of provider performance profiles
for use by consumers.
Abstract
The Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, through the
University of Massachusetts Medical School, E.K.
Shriver Center,
Center for Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Research, will develop a unique quality improvement collaboration between the New
England mental retardation/developmental
disabilities State
systems. The major outcomes for this grant project include the development of a
set of common quantitative standards and quality indicators, comparative
interstate benchmarks, standard algorithms for trend and pattern analysis of
quality data, standardized evidence for use by the CMS Regional Office,
National Core Indicators (NCI) enhancement, coordinated resource sharing, multistate training and learning opportunities regarding
quality improvement and the use of objective data and analytic methods of
performance evaluation, increased partnership between the State Medicaid
Directors and the MR/DD system leadership, and improved methods for federal
oversight of HCBS supports.
Consumers, families, service providers, and CMS regional
personnel will be invited to participate with State personnel in the initial
identification of standards and indicators to ensure that the design reflects
what is important to HCBS participants, providers, and federal monitors. In addition,
grant funds will be utilized to establish methods to facilitate the sharing of
resources regarding quality and quality improvement across the participating
states and the training of stakeholders in the use of quantitative information
and methods for consumer use of objective quality information, including
prototype provider profiles.