Quality

This is the latest newsletter of the National Core Indicators (NCI) program. The publication is designed to keep you abreast of developments and best practices in performance and outcome measurement as exemplified in initiatives among NCI participants. Issue 1, Volume 4 is a special issue dedicated to Member Profiles. Review the summaries for twenty-three states plus the Regional Center of Orange County in California.

In laying the groundwork for sustainable improvements in the infrastructure for LTC policy and program implementation, Massachusetts Real Choice grantees conducted an assessment of current Service Coordination practices across State agencies. The research objective was to better understand present service coordination practices among agencies dealing with elderly and individuals with disabilities with the intention of identifying “promising practices”. This report presents the review results.

As part of the Massachusetts Independence Plus grant, the workgroup recognized there was a certain amount of risk associated with individualized budgeting. They devised a “Incident Reporting” System that would document any incidents (such as fall, funding problems, injuries) that would compromise the health of an individual with disabilities being served under the program. The forms were created to assist a future Massachusetts IP waiver and have not yet been adopted

As part of California’s QA/QI grant, this report discusses grant activity related to the measurement of consumer outcomes. Included in the report are a comparative review of consumer satisfaction survey instruments considered for use and an analysis of California’s information system with respect to the requirements of participation in National Core Indicators.

The California Quality Service Review was conducted to monitor the transition from institutional to community-based settings. This presentation provides outlines of the Quality Management Systems (QMS) plus steps and tools that the project used in order to monitor quality.

In September 2004, Minnesota’s Real Choice Systems Changes grantees presented at the Illinois 2004 Systems Change Seminar. Presentations covered the Minnesota’s Personal Assistance Care Program, QA/QI grant, ADRC grant, and its Senior Health Insurance Program. A variety of topics covered include quality assurance, stakeholder involvement and personal assisted services

For more than three decades, CQL has been at the forefront of the movement to improve the quality of services and supports for people with intellectual disabilities and people with mental illness. Plan to attend one of their upcoming regional conferences or review the overview from last year's session on the Community Life Initiatives. Visitors to the website can register for Capstone, the CQL Newsletter, read archived issues, or review their innovative and one-of-a-kind tools and resources.

Medicaid clients and advocates have stressed the importance of case management services to ensure that clients have access to supports, choice among providers and services to meet their needs. Quality became a primary topic of discussion for the Quality for Equality (Q4E) Committee. The Q4E identified concerns regarding the process by which the Department and case management agencies incorporate client input into quality improvement initiatives. Review the Q4E’s final report and recommendations.

Speaker presentations from the recently concluded 19th Annual State Health Policy Conference in Pittsburgh are now available. Topics include Helping Troubled Youth, High Performance Health Systems, Balancing Long-Term Care, Improving Quality, Assuring Better Child Health and Development, Redesigning Coverage in Medicaid, Patient Safety, and Using Data to Inform Public Policy. Review the presentations and other hot topics in state health policy.

The Oregon Dept. of Human Services, Division of Seniors and People with Disabilities (SPD) contracted with Human Service Research Institute to develop a consumer survey exploring the satisfaction of people served by SPD in-home Waiver programs (seniors, people with physical and developmental disabilities). The project team worked collaboratively with SPD staff and Stakeholder Group to develop a survey instrument and process that adequately addresses the interests and concerns of all involved.