BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In recognition and with deep appreciation, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded eQHealth Solutions, Inc. for diligent work, authentic collaboration with patients, clinicians and partners for delivering unprecedented national impact on patient safety in all U.S. hospitals. In total, CMS estimates that eQHealth helped to save 87,000 lives, reduced harmful acts to patients by 2.1 million, and reduced costs by $19.8 billion. The award was presented at the CMS Quality Conference together with The Partnership for Public Service in Baltimore, Maryland late last year.
eQHealth Solutions’ work that paved the way for the award began in 2011 when the organization was Louisiana’s state based Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO). eQHealth initiated a number of activities to support the national Partnership for Patients Initiative, created by CMS’s Dr. Paul McGann, Jean Moody-Williams and Dennis Wagner. The three Federal government employees recently received the 2016 Federal Employee of the Year awards for their work. In turn, the threesome recognized the organizations that made the Partnership for Patients Program a success resulting in the metrics noted in this release. Today, eQHealth Solutions continues to improve care as a partner to Quality Insights Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO), which provides free resources and technical assistance to providers in Louisiana and four other states—Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
“We could not be more proud of this award presented by CMS in recognition of our work on the Partnership for Patients Program. This initiative aligns with eQHealth’s core mission to improve the quality of health and healthcare by using information and collaborative relationships to enable change. Participation in the program has given eQHealth a channel to showcase our clinical expertise and focus on driving outcomes to deliver improved quality of care, increased patient safety, and reduced costs,” said Glen J. Golemi, Chief Executive Officer, eQHealth Solutions. “While we are excited about these results, we know that there is much more to do. This year and in the years ahead, we look forward to working with CMS and our partner organizations to build on the successes achieved thus far.”
Key components of the current QIN-QIO program include initiatives aimed at providing and facilitating diabetes self-management education training, improving cardiovascular health, and combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria through increased governance on antibiotic use. Additionally, the Program focuses on decreasing nursing home resident morbidity, preventing adverse drug events, reducing hospital admissions and readmissions, and providing technical assistance to providers to help them meet the requirements for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) among other efforts. Providers and beneficiaries interested in joining the program can contact the QIN-QIO at www.qualityinsights-qin.org.
About eQHealth Solutions
Founded in 1986, eQHealth Solutions is a population health management and technology solutions company that touches millions of lives annually throughout the nation. Our high-tech and high-touch models include innovative technology solutions and care coordination services, and focus on outcomes and optimization of provider and payer networks. eQHealth serves a variety of entities including federal, state and commercial clients. www.eqhs.org
