Arkansas Medicaid Inpatient Quality Incentive (IQI):
Strengthening health care quality, accountability and financing

 

The Arkansas Medicaid Inpatient Quality Incentive program provides millions of dollars in performance bonus payments to hospitals that improve care for pneumonia, heart failure and prevention of surgical infection. Participating hospitals are better able to strengthen health care quality, accountability and financing.

The program awarded more than $9 million in its first two years and earned national attention for its innovation and health care community involvement. During the most recent round, 27 Arkansas hospitals improved care sufficiently to qualify for recognition.

The IQI program requires hospitals to meet specific goals for at least eight out of 10 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 QualityNet Clinical Warehouse, a national repository that stores information about quality of care. The data comes from all health care payers, including Medicaid, Medicare 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 program for hospitals in the nation to include a validation component. The IQI has positioned Arkansas as a leader in national Medicaid 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.

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Arkansas Medicaid Abstraction & Reporting Tool (AMART)

AMART, the Arkansas Medicaid Abstraction & Reporting Tool, is a powerful web-based application for the collection and analysis of quality improvement data. Through data collection, AMART enables hospitals to comprehensively evaluate and manage quality improvement efforts in the Arkansas Medicaid IQI program. The application is available at no charge to hospitals or other organizations participating in the IQI Program and submitting quality measures for:

• Care Coordination Documentation Measures for IQI SFY2010
• Obstetric Measures for IQI SFY2010

To get started, please complete the registration form here (pdf) and return to AFMC. Allow one week for processing once the form is returned and you will be notified when your account has been established.