The Indian Health Service (IHS) www.ihs.gov provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for about 2.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. October 4, 2016, CMS www.cms.gov announced that they have awarded a new contract to support best health care practices and other operational improvements for the Indian Health Service (IHS) which operates hospitals participating in the Medicare program.
HealthInsight https://healthinsight.org is the current Quality Innovation Network—Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) for the southwest region of the U.S where many IHS federal government operated hospitals are located. HealthInsight has a history of strategic partnerships that support quality improvement and innovation in hospitals across multiple states.
The goals for the QIN—QIO are to support, build, and redesign if needed the IHS hospital operating infrastructure. The contract will focus on leadership, staff development, data acquisition, and analytics, clinical standards of care, and quality of care related to the Medicare program.
The QIN-QIO contract for approximately three years will:
- Develop effective leaders through training and networking
- Build strong hospital systems through team-based care and clinical quality improvement
- Strengthen patient, family, and tribal engagement at the project and local levels
- Promote and spread best practices in hospitals through Web-Based Learning & Action Networks and direct technical assistance
- Ensure that clinical, operational, and safety standards are met or exceed
- Assist with the development of hospital improvement plans
- Establish baseline data to ensure plans for improvement are successful and sustainable