Premier to roll out QUEST, a new P4P program, following in the footsteps of HQID

Premier announced a new P4P program last week.  It’s calling for hospital participants.  The press release says:

The Premier healthcare alliance and a group of healthcare leaders today launched a comprehensive project called “QUEST: High Performing Hospitals” to improve patient safety and quality in the nation’s hospitals while safely reducing healthcare costs.

QUEST is a three-year program through which participating hospitals will report data to Premier on a set of clearly defined performance measures encompassing aspects of quality, efficiency, safety and patient satisfaction. Premier will analyze the data, facilitate sharing of best practices, and provide incentives for top-performing hospitals.

QUEST follows in the footsteps of Premier’s HQID P4P program, undertaken as a CMS demonstration project.

Applications to participate are due September 30.

While P4P programs such as this one can certianly achieve short-term improvement in performance against announced and measured metrics, the bigger question is how to maintain and incentivize quality improvement over the long haul.

— David Harlow