JSI to Design and Evaluate Programs that Manage and Improve the Quality of Healthcare

By Elena Thomas Faulkner, JSI senior consultant

Improved access to insurance coverage is only one piece of health reform. The quality and effectiveness of the care provided, and the individual's experience with the care are also important. However, health care quality, cost, and experience vary greatly. JSI works with communities, states, and government agencies to design and evaluate programs that manage and improve the quality of health care. JSI's work includes helping communities to better coordinate care, adopt evidence-based practices, and align payment with quality.

JSI is helping organizations implement quality standards. JSI assisted the Health Resources and Services Agency (HRSA) Center for Quality to assess the feasibility of collecting eleven core clinical measures across its various programs. JSI used qualitative methods to understand the unique challenges in data collection and reporting that would impact the ability of HRSA's diverse grantees to collect and report the measures. [Read more]

JSI is also facilitating the work of a multidisciplinary panel of experts in Massachusetts to develop recommendations for Massachusetts on best practices and approaches for preventing and controlling health-care associated infections. The importance of healthcare-associated infections as a cause of preventable illness and death has been increasingly recognized in recent years. JSI is assisting the panel to identify evidence-based recommendations to address prevention, surveillance and reporting. [Read more]

Despite the implementation of the Massachusetts 2006 health care reform law, many low and moderate income residents still do not receive the right care in the right time and in the right place. JSI is working with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts to investigate barriers to care other than uninsurance, to identify a definition of meaningful access to quality care and to recommend evidence-based interventions to reduce barriers to care. [Read more]

In Colorado, JSI is helping to launch Colorado's newly created Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC), which will help Colorado align payment with quality. JSI researched the efforts of quality forums in other states as well as emerging trends in value-based payment and purchasing, and has assisted a steering committee in defining an initial structure and focus for the Center. [Read more]

JSI is also helping clinics and communities adopt evidence-based and emerging practices to improve quality of care. JSI worked with a Federally Qualified Health Center in Colorado, Metro Community Provider Network, to develop a plan for implementing the Medical Home and Chronic Care models in a clinic providing care to elderly persons and persons with disabilities. [Read more]

JSI is also evaluating the "medical home-plus" model and special asthma and mental health initiatives of the Children's Health Fund (CHF). [Read more].

Other projects:

For more information, please contact us.