QAPI Coach

Overview

Ohio’s Quality Project is a statewide data collection, benchmarking and performance improvement effort open to all Ohio’s hospice providers.  It is made possible by two appropriations grants from the federal government, one to Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg, Ohio, and another to Valley Hospice of Rayland, Ohio. 

These two hospice programs, in conjunction with the Ohio Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (OHPCO), have partnered to develop a comprehensive Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program.  This program will help Ohio hospice providers not only meet the requirements of the new Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoPs), but also critically examine their program’s performance and develop projects to improve the quality of the patient care they provide.

The project objective is to improve end of life care through technology. The project will develop, implement and maintain an information technology system for Ohio hospices which will identify quality outcomes, facilitate data collection of those quality measures and produce benchmarking reports identifying best practice. 

Benefits of participation in the Quality Project, to be known as QAPI Coach, include:

• Access to a user-friendly, web-based tool which will take your data and do the math for you
• Quarterly and annual reports that will show you not only how you compare to other Ohio hospices, but also give a snapshot of your hospice, from patient care on up to organizational excellence
• Two full-day CEed education events in January and June of 2009, respectively, to train programs to input data and use reports to improve patient care in your hospice
• On-site training for data entry, as well as access to an experienced, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)-trained “Coach” to assist in developing and implementing  performance improvement projects

Participation in QAPI Coach is voluntary, free and private. Data is coded to maintain the privacy of participating programs, and no data includes patient identifiers, protecting the privacy and security of those you serve. Beginning in 2011, QAPI Coach will cease to be grant-funded and will become a purchased benefit of membership with OHPCO. Additionally, programs will be able to voluntarily publicly report their quality measures, helping patients and families to make the best decisions on end of life care, and further incentivizing performance improvement in the hospice industry.  QAPI Coach data will also provide critical information about the value of hospice services at end of life to policymakers and leaders in the healthcare field.

Now is the time to get in on the ground floor of this innovative, important project. For more information on QAPI Coach, visit www.qapicoach.com or email Susan Wallace, QAPI Coach Coordinator, at susan@ohpco.org.