The Arkansas Medicaid Inpatient Quality Incentive Program provides millions of dollars in performance bonus payments to hospitals that improve care for care coordination, obstetrics, venous thromboembolism and prevention of surgical infection. Participating hospitals are better able to strengthen health care quality, accountability and financing.
The Inpatient Quality Incentive Program has been in existence since 2007 and is at its beginning stages of its fifth successful year. The program has awarded approximately 20 million in its four years of existence and has earned national attention for its innovation and health care community involvement. During the most recent round, 33 Arkansas hospitals improved care sufficiently to quality for recognition.
The IQI program requires hospitals to meet specific goals for at least six out of eight quality measures – specific aspects of care proven to improve outcomes for patients. Hospitals also must pass validation to receive payment or recognition.
Levels of achievement are based on hospital data submitted to the Quality Net Clinical Warehouse and directly to AFMC using the Arkansas Medicaid Abstraction Tool (AMART). The data comes from all health care payers, including Medicaid and private insurance.
Arkansas Medicaid, the Arkansas Hospital Association and the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care (AFMC) worked together to develop IQI, the first pay-for-performance efforts. The initiative represents a growing national movement toward rewarding hospitals for their commitment to quality and providing evidence-based care to their patients.