Registration is now open for IPRO’s 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting, to be held Tuesday June 3, at the New York LaGuardia Airport Marriott Hotel in East Elmhurst, NY. The event will include presentation of the 2014 IPRO Quality Awards, which are given each year to recognize distinguished performance in quality improvements in numerous healthcare settings… Continue Reading
Feds Credit QIO-Led Readmission Decreases
Federally-funded efforts by Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) to engage communities to improve care transitions are having a demonstrable effect on the nationwide decline in hospital admissions and re-admissions, according to experts at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in Baltimore, MD (CMS). Writing in a current issue of the Journal of the American Medical… Continue Reading
IPRO Registers Dramatic Infection Reductions
New York-based inpatient facilities working with IPRO on reducing hospital-acquired infections are showing dramatic improvements in performance. Under IPRO’s three-year Medicare QIO contract which concludes this July, participating hospitals are addressing four major categories of infection: central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), Clostridium Difficile infections (CDIs), and surgical site infections… Continue Reading
IPRO Achieves Performance Milestone
IPRO has received written notice of positive performance under the three-year, Medicare-funded Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) contract that concludes this summer. In a “27th month” progress letter dated January 29 from Patrick H. Conway, MD, MSc, CMS Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality and CMS Chief Medical Officer, the organization is singled out for performance… Continue Reading
IPRO Achieves Review Accreditation
IPRO has again achieved full accreditation as an external Independent Review Organization (IRO) by the Washington DC-based Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC). IROs provide objective clinical reviews of coverage disputes between patients and insurers on behalf of state governments as well as self-insured plans and health plan administrators. IPRO currently performs these independent review services… Continue Reading
West Coast Affiliate Offers Physician Consulting
IPRO’s San Francisco-based affiliate Lumetra Healthcare Solutions is now offering physicians a range of customized programs to help them utilize electronic health records (EHRs) in a way that meets government requirements while potentially qualifying them for incentive payments. Lumetra’s new product line builds on the success the organization has achieved in supporting physicians via Health… Continue Reading
Online Series Examines QIO Efforts
New York Times Journalist/Blogger Judith Graham has written a two-part online series examining efforts by QIOs to protect Medicare beneficiaries. The series focuses on premature hospital discharges, as well as “immediate advocacy” support services in which QIOs help patients solve problems that fall short of requiring medical record reviews. It includes interviews with QIO leaders… Continue Reading
Feds Seek Comment on Physician Payment Data
In light of recent court rulings and developments in Congress, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is asking for public comment on the extent to which the government ought to broaden public access to information on the payments individual physicians receive for treating Medicare patients. Last May a federal court judge in… Continue Reading
IPRO Honors Record Number of Award Winners
Eighteen individual New York healthcare providers—and three groups of healthcare organizations, totaling an additional 60 awardees—are recipients of IPRO Quality Awards for 2013. The awards, given annually by IPRO, recognize organizations and professionals who demonstrate a commitment to improving the quality of care provided to New York’s Medicare beneficiaries. IPRO is the Medicare Quality Improvement… Continue Reading
IPRO Senior Director Renato L. Estrella, MSHA, RHIA FAHIMA, elected President/Chair-Elect of the New York Health Information Management Association
IPRO Senior Director Renato L. Estrella, MSHA, RHIA FAHIMA, has been elected President/Chair-Elect of the New York Health Information Management Association for the Association’s 2013-2014 term. This is Estrella’s second term as head of NYHIMA’s Board — he served as President during 2008-2009. In her July 23 announcement, Executive Director Christine Harrington noted Estrella’s “demonstrated… Continue Reading