Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP)
The Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) is a quality improvement activity under the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) grant program of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). The goal of MBQIP is to improve the quality of care provided in critical access hospitals (CAHs), by increasing quality data reporting by CAHs and then driving quality improvement activities based on the data. This project provides an opportunity for individual hospitals to look at their own data, measure their outcomes against other CAHs and partner with other hospitals in the state around quality improvement initiatives to improve outcomes and provide the highest quality care to each and every one of their patients.
The resources found on the pages linked below provide an overview of the goals, expectations and measures for MBQIP as well as resources for reporting and quality improvement initiatives.
Quick Reference Resource List
This resource list includes the most important resources that are available related to MBQIP:
Questions about MBQIP?
CAH Administrators and other personnel: State Flex Coordinators are a great resource for information about MBQIP or the state Flex Program. The State Contact Information and Flex Profile pages include contact information for each state's Flex Coordinator.
Flex Coordinators: Please send MBQIP questions to the Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC) general mailbox tasc@ruralcenter.org.
Overview
These resources provide an overview of MBQIP including:
- The purpose of MBQIP and benefits of participation
- Steps for CAHs to complete in order to participate
- Basic information about MBQIP measures, both current and historical
- Broad sweeping MBQIP resources, such as the MBQIP Quality Improvement Guide and general webinars
Data Reporting and Use
These resources provide information about how to submit MBQIP data and how to interpret data reports in order to inform quality improvement efforts.
Care Transitions
These resources focus on quality improvement for care transitions. Current required and additional MBQIP measures that fall under this domain are:
Required:
- Emergency Department Transfer Communication (EDTC)
Additional:
- Discharge Planning
- Medication Reconciliation
For more information about the reporting requirements for these measures, see Data Reporting and Use.
Outpatient
These resources focus on quality improvement for outpatient hospital services, primarily those provided in the emergency department (ED). Current required and additional MBQIP measures that fall under this domain include:
Required:
- OP-1: Median Time to Fibrinolysis
- OP-2: Fibrinolytic Therapy Received Within 30 Minutes
- OP-3: Median Time to Transfer to Another Facility for Acute Coronary Intervention
- OP-4: Aspirin at Arrival
- OP-5: Median Time to ECG (electrocardiogram)
- OP-18: Median Time from ED Arrival to ED Departure for Discharged ED Patients
- OP-20: Door to Diagnostic Evaluation by a Qualified Medical Professional
- OP-21: Median Time to Pain Management for Long Bone Fracture
- OP-22: Left Without Being Seen (Emergency Department)
Additional:
- Emergency Department Throughput (ED-1, ED-2)
For more information about the reporting requirements for these measures, see Data Reporting and Use.
Patient Engagement
These resources focus on quality improvement related to the patient experience. The current required MBQIP measure that falls under this domain is:
- Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS)
For more information about the reporting requirements for these measures, see Data Reporting and Use.
Patient Safety
These resources focus on quality improvement related to patient safety. Current required and additional MBQIP measures that fall under this domain include:
Required:
- OP-27: Influenza Vaccination Coverage among Healthcare Personnel
- IMM-2: Influenza Immunization
Additional:
- Hospital Acquired Infections (CLABSI, CAUTI, CDI, MRSA)
- Stroke (STK-1, STK-8, OP-23)
- Venous Thromboembolism (VTE-1, VTE-2, VTE-3)
- Perinatal Care (PC-01)
- Surgery/Surgical Care (OP-25)
- Pneumonia
- Falls
- Adverse Drug Events
- Reducing Readmissions
- Patient Safety Culture
For more information about the reporting requirements for these measures, see Data Reporting and Use.
- Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC)
- Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program (SHIP)
- Health Education and Learning Program (HELP) Webinars
- Performance Management Group (PMG) Calls
- Rural Hospital Performance Improvement (RHPI) Project
- Rural HIT Network Development (RHITND)
- Rural Hospital Toolkit for Transitioning to Value-based Systems
MBQIP Monthly
The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy periodically publishes the MBQIP Monthly newsletter which highlights current information about the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) for Flex Coordinators and associated staff.
MBQIP Data Reports
The Flex Monitoring Team (FMT) periodically publishes MBQIP data reports, which provide nationwide data on the measures of the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) for Flex Coordinators and associated staff.