WVMI & Quality Insights’ principal work is assessing the quality of health care and helping practitioners and organizations improve it. For almost 40 years WVMI has done this by offering services that include medical record abstraction and analysis, health information technology assistance and continuous quality improvement consultation to government and private customers.
We have been a leader in computer-guided medical record abstraction and customized data reporting for more than two decades. Our collection and systematic feedback of performance data on behalf of a major health system has supported dramatic improvement in care quality. We have also assured quality through auditing records submitted to registries and repositories.
Through grants from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT), we are assisting thousands of physicians with implementation and meaningful use of electronic health records. We have also assisted government agencies with systemic HIT projects and founded e-health coalitions in three states.
We have frequently developed quality measures for clients as part comprehensive improvement project and are currently creating and testing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) national measures related to physician-office EHRs and e-prescribing. Quality Insights is one of a handful of qualified Measures Instrument Development and Support (MIDS) Contractors
WVMI & Quality Insights affiliates have long been trusted conveners and quality experts in the states we serve, providing educational and networking opportunities, performance data and insights for change. Currently, we are serving as a national convener and quality expert, having recruited and supported 5,000 home health agencies taking part in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Home Health Quality Improvement National Campaign.
WVMI has been involved in patient safety focused initiatives for nearly a decade. We researched, designed, and funded one of the nation’s largest voluntary patient safety reporting initiatives—the multi-year West Virginia Patient Safety Project, which employed a Web-based reporting tool to reduce medical errors in the state’s rural hospitals. The project led to a $1.7 million grant from the Agency for Health Care Quality that was named one of the top four projects in the country at a national AHRQ Patient Safety and HIT meeting.5, 6As an outgrowth of the project, WVMI co-founded the West Virginia Center for Patient Safety, a federally designated Patient Safety Organization.
State government agencies have turned to WVMI & Quality Insights for information to shape policy. We have studied the burden of diabetes and written a comprehensive report on cancer care, conducted surveillance of quality and outcomes in invasive cardiology facilities, and surveyed hospitals and physician offices to assess availability and access. We have also played an integral role in shaping HIT policy. In West Virginia, we authored the state’s Roadmap to Health Information Exchange, which informed HIE legislation and helped the state form the West Virginia Health Information Network.