Q -- Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program and the 2007 QualityNet Conference:

October 9, 2007 TO: Potential Offerors FROM: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) SUBJECT: Special Notice for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program and the 2007 QualityNet Conference: "Charting the Course to Quality" The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is sponsoring its annual 2007 QualityNet Conference - QualityNet 2007, to be held at the Baltimore Convention Center, One West Pratt Street, in Baltimore, Maryland, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on October 23-25, 2007. The Theme of this year's conference is "Charting the Course to Quality" which focuses on the QIO Program and its responsibilities. The QIO program is currently operating under the 8th Scope of Work (SoW) (August 1, 2005 through July 31, 2008). The 8th SoW contract is to assist providers, nursing homes, home health agencies, hospitals, and physician practice sites, in measuring and reporting quality, producing and using electronic clinical information, redesigning care processes, and transforming organizational cultures so as to accelerate the rate of quality improvement and broaden its impact thereby increasing the value offered to beneficiaries through traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and Part D benefits. The QIO Program's 9th SoW, begins on August 1, 2008, will focus on proposed Themes in the areas of Prevention, Patient Safety, Patient Pathways/Care Coordination and Beneficiary Protection. The 9th SoW aims to improve quality of care and provide protection for all Medicare beneficiaries. In addition to a focus on these cross-setting Themes, the 9th SOW will have an overarching focus throughout all Themes on Value-Driven Healthcare, Adoption and Use of Health Information Technology, and Reduction of Health Disparities. Both of the Themes and cross-thematic topics will address the major healthcare priorities that the Department of Health and Human Services' Secretary Michael Leavitt has identified for the Nation's healthcare system. CMS is inviting organizations interested in becoming QIOs to attend the Conference. In order to be eligible for a QIO contract an organization must either be a physician-sponsored or a physician-access organization as described in Section 462.102 and Section 462.103 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and demonstrate its ability to perform review as set forth in Section 462.104 of the CFR. Stakeholders/external partners are critical to the success of the QIO program and we welcome your attendance at this year's conference. More information about the QIO Program and information related to the QualityNet Agenda will be posted prior to the QualityNet Conference and may be obtained at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/QualityImprovementOrgs/. If you are interested in registering for the QualityNet Conference, please complete the registration form at http://www.qualitynetonline.com. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Jacqueline Harley at 410-786-7222. Thank you.