Identified Participant Group (IPG) Summary

To achieve the transformational change that is required to reach its 8Sow goal, CMS has launched four national hospital projects. Volunteer hospitals are working within IPGs to adopt information technology, measure and report performance, redesign care processes, and transform organizational culture: The four projects are:

• Appropriate Care Measure (ACM)—The ACM is composed of the 10 quality measures (5 AMI, 3 PN, and 2 HF) as defined in the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) and associated with the hospitals’ Annual Payment Update (APU). Unlike past quality efforts, in which each indicator was measured separately, the ACM is patient-centered. It answers the question: “Did the patient receive ALL the care he or she should have received, based upon his or her clinical condition?” Teams will focus on reducing the gap between care the patient should have received and care the patient did receive.



• Rural Organizational Safety Culture Change (ROSC)— ROSC is designed to assist rural and critical access hospitals (CAHs) in assessing their organizations’ safety climate through a survey developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)—the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Teams will assess their hospitals’ current culture using the survey, identify opportunities for improvement, implement interventions, and conduct a second survey to determine improvement.



• Systems Improvement and Organizational Culture Change (SIOC)—SIOC addresses issues related to use of advancing technology for health care and patient safety. (Arizona is nationally recognized for its excellent telehealth network through the work of the Arizona Telehealth Program—which is partnering with HSAG on this project.) Teams will use a CMS survey to assess their hospitals’ current telehealth status, develop a business case for use or further advancement of telehealth, implement interventions to support the work, and conduct a second survey to determine improvement.



• Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP)—SCIP is a national effort to reduce preventable complications related to surgical infections and thromboembolic events. These complications take a toll, not only on the patients, but also on the overall cost of health care through increased length of stay and hospital costs. The project quality measures have been developed in association with nationally recognized professional associations. Teams will participate in learning sessions and implement interventions designed to improve surgical processes and reduce surgical complications.