Physician Practice: Overview
HQSI, under its contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is implementing the following initiatives with physician practices in New Jersey.
DOQ-IT (Primary Care)
The Doctor's Office Quality - Information Technology (DOQ-IT) focuses on the implementation and use of electronic health records (EHR) systems in primary care practices. HQSI also helps primary care physicians with the use of EHR systems and health information technology to improve outcomes for patients with chronic illnesses and to enhance preventive delivery services.
HQSI is currently working with more than 150 primary care physicians who volunteered to participate in DOQ-IT during the enrollment period (August 2005 - July 2006). HQSI DOQ-IT field representatives have worked one-on-one with participating physicians, providing assistance with making EHR vendor selection and implementing the EHR systems in their practices. After the systems are in use in the practice, the HQSI representatives support physicians with using care management for continued quality improvement.
Care for Underserved Populations
HQSI offers assistance to New Jersey physicians and their office staff in clinical practice by:
- Providing cultural competency education for New Jersey primary care physicians
- Building upon efforts to better address the needs of underserved populations in New Jersey
Healthcare Quality
HQSI is providing information to New Jersey physicians that will help with the enhancement of healthcare quality in the following topic areas:
- Care for diabetes
- Breast cancer screening
- Adult immunizations (influenza and pneumococcal)
In addition to working with physicians in their office settings, HQSI also is assisting hospitals on quality improvement in the following topics:
- Acute myocardial infarction
- Heart failure
- Pneumonia
- Surgical care improvement