Independent Evaluation of the Ninth Scope of Work, QIO Program. Volume I: Findings.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) operates the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program to ensure and improve the quality of health care for Medicare beneficiaries. This report presents the results of an independent evaluation of the ninth scope of work, QIO Program, conducted by Mathematica during 2008–2011. Using innovative quasi-experimental methods, the evaluation found that QIO’s work led to improvement in 4 of the 12 targeted measures of quality evaluated. In addition, more than three-fourths of the hospitals and nursing homes in a national survey with QIO contacts said the contacts themselves or resources the QIO staff provided led to changes that improved patient care.