Georgia Medicaid Receives $1 Million Grant from CMS

Grant Supports Reporting Adult Quality Measures to Improve Health

Outcomes

 

Special to the Journal

ATLANTA (February 12, 2013) — Georgia Medicaid recently received a two-year

grant for $968,297 per year from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid

Services (CMS) to assist Georgia in reporting the Adult Quality Core Set of

measures to CMS.  

“With the reporting of these new measure sets for our members, Georgia will

gain additional skills in analyzing and using data for monitoring and driving

improvements in health care,” said David A. Cook, commissioner of the Georgia

Department of Community Health, which administers Medicaid for the state. “Some

of these measures will serve as the indicators for our Care Management

Organizations’ performance improvement projects.”

The grant will be used to generate, report and validate adult quality

performance measure rates for the Medicaid Adult-Only members and a subset of

that population — the members enrolled in the Community Care Services Program

(CCSP) waiver. The Medicaid Adult-Only members receive services through

 managed care and fee-for-service providers. Altogether, Georgia’s

Medicaid division serves approximately 1.7 million Georgians.

The grant will also be used to implement, monitor and validate two new

performance improvement projects (PIPs) through collaborations with the Georgia

Department of Human Services, Division of Aging Services and the 12 Area

Agencies on Aging throughout the state. These PIPs will focus on improvements

in screening for clinical depression and improvements in the management of

antidepressant medications for the elderly.

In May 2009, DCH’s Medicaid Division created its Performance, Quality and

Outcomes Unit. It was charged with ensuring that all aspects of the

department’s Quality Strategic Plan are implemented, and defining enhancements

to the plan that would drive health improvements for Georgia’s Medicaid

population served by the CMOs. Janice Carson, MD, is the unit’s deputy

director.

“Dr. Carson and her unit have made great strides in identifying, tracking, and

influencing pediatric measures, and her work has been nationally recognized,”

said Jerry Dubberly, director of Medicaid. “The performance measure rates

generated from these new requirements will further inform our health

improvement initiatives.”

In 2011, Georgia’s work in Pediatric Quality Core Set Measures was highlighted

in a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The report

commended the state for reporting on 18 of the 24 Children’s Health Insurance

Program (CHIP) measures in FFY2010, more than any other state. The state was

also recognized for taking a proactive role in designing its data systems to

support quality measurement.

DCH’s Performance, Quality and Outcomes Unit will report 23 of the 26 Adult

Core Set Measures, including Comprehensive Diabetes Care, Prenatal and

Postpartum Care, High Blood Pressure, and Cervical Cancer Screening. Results

for three measures will be stratified and reported by race/ethnicity, gender

and region.

About the Georgia Department of Community Health

Through effective planning, purchasing and oversight, the Georgia Department of

Community Health (DCH) provides access to affordable, quality health care to

millions of Georgians, including some of the state’s uninsured and most

vulnerable populations.

DCH is responsible for Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids,® the State Health

Benefit Plan, Healthcare Facility Regulation and Health Information Technology

in Georgia.

HHJ News