Information & Quality Healthcare

The Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Mississippi

Information & Quality Healthcare (IQH), a not-for-profit corporation chartered in 1971 in Mississippi, serves as the federally designated Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for the state. IQH works under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to improve the quality of health care for Medicare beneficiaries. By serving as a resource for the state's health care providers and for Medicare beneficiaries, IQH fulfills its mission by providing leadership and consultative services to ensure that all Mississippians receive the right care at the right time, care that is safe, effective, efficient and timely.

IQH has been a resource and catalyst for health care improvement in Mississippi for over 35 years. The IQH vision is for a health care system that has the capacity to continually improve care and outcomes for the state's citizens. IQH professionals include physicians, nurses, health information administrators, data analysts and other quality experts working in teams to achieve the strategic goals of transforming health care in Mississippi.

Scam Alert Issued by CMS

CMS has become aware of a scam where perpetrators are sending faxes to physician offices posing as the Medicare carrier or Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC). The fax instructs physician staff to respond to a questionnaire to provide an account information update within 48 hours in order to prevent a gap in Medicare payments. The fax may have the CMS logo and/or the contractor logo to enhance the appearance of authenticity.

Medicare FFS providers, including physicians, non-physician practitioners, should be wary of this type of request. Persons receiving a request for information in the manner described above should check with their contractor before submitting any information.

Medicare providers should only send information to a Medicare contractor using the address found in the download section of the CMS.gov Web site at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNGenInfo/ or http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareProviderSupEnroll.

Dr. James S. McIlwain

Dr. James S. McIlwain, President of Information & Quality Healthcare, co-chairs the Mississippi Health Information Technology Infrastructure Task Force. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed the medical records of thousands of evacuees, the state of Mississippi

decided to create networked electronic records. The Mississippi Coastal Health Information Exchange (MSCHIE) was established to restore the medical information system within the area of our state most devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Because of this restoration effort, medical records will now be stored and exchanged between providers electronically as opposed to using an out-dated paper-based system which is vulnerable to natural disasters such as hurricanes. The six coastal counties of Pearl River, Stone, George, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina are the focus of the health information exchange.

NIH SeniorHealth

Medicare Information for Caregivers Now Available on NIHSeniorHealth

If you’re caring for an older friend or family member, you’ve probably had questions about Medicare, the federal health insurance program for adults 65 and older and people under age 65 with disabilities. While you may know that Medicare helps pay for medical and prescription drug costs, you may want to become more familiar with the Medicare benefits and resources available to your friend or loved one. An easy-to-read overview, "Medicare Basics for Caregivers," is now available at NIHSeniorHealth.gov, the Web site for older adults from the National Institutes of Health. This brief, yet comprehensive introduction to Medicare gives caregivers the basics and helps them find answers to their questions.

5 Star Nursing Home Ratings

CMS Issues Historic Star Quality Rating System for Nursing Homes

Next Step in Evolution of Nursing Home Compare Web Site

For the first time in history, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today released quality ratings for each of the nation’s 15,800 nursing homes that participate in Medicare or Medicaid.

Facilities are assigned star ratings from a low of one star to a high of five stars based on health inspection surveys, staffing information, and quality of care measures. The ratings are publicly available on the agency’s Nursing Home Compare Web site at www.medicare.gov.