News and Announcements

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) presented 10 states with the 2019 Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) Quality Performance Awards. These awards recognize achieving the highest reporting rates and levels of improvement in critical access hospitals over the past year.

This year’s 10 top performing states are: Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, Utah, Alabama, Nebraska, Maine, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Angie Charlet (pictured back row, fourth from left), ICAHN Senior Director of Quality, Education and Compliance, accepted the award for Illinois’ critical access hospitals.

These states built on their previous successes by investing funding from HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) into quality improvement projects and developing technical assistance resources that improve high-quality care in their communities. States also work collaboratively with every CAH and their respective partners to share best practices and utilize data to drive quality improvement in their hospitals.

HRSA created the MBQIP to promote high quality care at rural hospitals with 25 or fewer beds. Hospitals that participate in MBQIP voluntarily report quality measures relevant to the care they provide, share data, and take on quality improvement initiatives. Of those engaging in improvement initiatives, 72% have improved outcomes on the reported measures.

“MBQIP is part of a broader portfolio of activities within HRSA to preserve hospitals and help rural communities to continue their access to quality health care. Ensuring rural hospital viability is an important component of HRSA’s strategic efforts on high quality and value-based care,” said Dr. George Sigounas, HRSA Administrator.

“We’re happy to work with the states on this effort,” said Tom Morris, FORHP Associate Administrator. “They’ve done a great job showing that CAHs can be national leaders in quality improvement and that results in better care in rural communities.”