Quality

In the spring of 2005, Minnesota’s Department of Human Services, Aging & Adult Services, will be conducting a Consumer Experience Survey of 600 Elderly Waiver clients. Piloted with 90 EW clients, the current version reflects experiences and feedback from the Quality Design Commission members. The survey instrument is designed to discover the types of help people need to stay in their home, whether or not they are getting that help, & how satisfied they are with their help and quality of life.

Texas QA/QI grantees have shared their Business Case for a Critical Incident System. This document outlines system recommendations, objectives and potential constraints and is a helpful resource for any state trying to present a business case to its budget office. This document provides the background to support an executive management decision to commit resources to conduct an in-depth study to determine scope and cost for the development of a comprehensive critical incident management system.

This comprehensive manual from the State of South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs outlines the four basic components of the Quality Management Review and includes the protocols and quality measures that are used as part of this process. The PowerPoint tool and new manual are used together to train providers on indicators and changes made from previous years.

Ohio has shared its Scope and Deliverables for its Comprehensive Assessment and Review Tool (CART) project. This document outlines the deliverables and timelines for the development of a generic data entry tool that will be used by the various business units currently performing quality assurance activities at the state level.

The Topeka Independent Living Center developed this list of Quality Indicators to be applied to all their consumer-directed programs.

This recent Health Affairs article presents the latest program trends in the three Medicaid home and community-based services programs (waivers, home health, & state-plan personal care) and reports a national survey of cost control policies used on waiver programs in 2002. The findings show slowing annual rates of participation growth on individual programs, widespread use of cost controls on waivers including waiting lists, and the persistence of large interstate variations.

This database, developed under Maine's QA/QI grant, helps to organize program design and QM system information in a way that is compatible with both CMS's Quality Framework and Review Protocol. Once information is entered into the system, the database can generate one page snapshots of a state's QM structure. <br> Please Note: You must download either database to your computer in order to run.

This brief User’s Guide is designed to accompany orientation and training sessions that will be provided to the statewide and regional Councils in Massachusetts that use the Q.A. report as a foundation for exploring how to use data as a quality tool. To use data effectively requires that users have a basic understanding of the benefits and limitations of data. That is the purpose of this guide and the training sessions that will be provided to Quality Council members.

Since the inception of the survey and certification process in 1994, the Dept. of Mental Retardation in Massachusetts has been assessing the quality of supports provided by both public and private providers to help individuals obtain important outcomes in their lives. This evaluation process formed the basis for certifying/licensing agencies to provide services. This web link describes services that are subject to licensure, defines the levels, outcomes and survey results.

The State of West Virginia has shared a number of sample forms for their MR/DD waiver programs. Tools include a variety of evaluations, forms, reports worksheets, summary sheets and applications.