Qualidigm Celebrates 30th Anniversary with Foray into Software Development Market and Healthcare Quality Improvement Milestones
Wethersfield, Conn (PRWEB) November 20, 2013 -- Qualidigm, the mission-driven national healthcare consulting company based in Wethersfield, Conn. is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The company provides innovative solutions to transform care and improve care delivery, patient outcomes and cost-effectiveness.
Awarded #1 Best Place to Work in 2013 by the Hartford Business Journal, Qualidigm is serving its 29th year as the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) contractor for over 620,000 beneficiaries in Connecticut. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Quality Improvement Organization Program is an integral part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's National Quality Strategy. Qualidigm has also served as Connecticut's designated Patient Safety Organization (PSO) since 2004.
"While we are extremely proud of our history and our business and societal contributions to-date, we are confident that our best years are ahead of us," said Qualidigm President and CEO Tim Elwell. Earlier this month, Elwell attended the National Association for Home Care & Hospice's Annual Meeting and Expo in Wash, D.C. where Qualidigm debuted Qualiance™, a first-of-its-kind web-based tool that audits and analyzes Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoP) compliance. With access to this real-time data, Qualiance™ enables home health care agencies to instantly pinpoint deficiencies and develop strategic corrective plans of action to improve these areas and ultimately avoid costly penalties. On the occasion of Qualidigm's 30th anniversary, it is very exciting to enter the software development market with such a technologically-sophisticated business solution,” said Elwell.”
Throughout its history, Qualidigm has been a collaborative partner with the entire healthcare continuum; working with patients and healthcare providers across organizational, cultural, political and geographical boundaries to initiate and sustain quality improvements. As a neutral convener, Qualidigm consistently coalesces and leads a variety of healthcare stakeholders toward the goal of improving healthcare quality, safety and cost-efficiency. As examples:
• This fall, the CT Partners for Health, a working-group of 40 healthcare organizations convened by Qualidigm, brought the nation's patient engagement movement to Connecticut by hosting the inaugural conference, "Better Health: Everyone's Responsibility." This educational event, which drew more than 500 healthcare consumers and providers, offered insights and resources from local, national and international experts to encourage the audience to take a much more active role in their health and healthcare. According to keynote speaker Dave deBronkart, an international patient engagement spokesman, "Never in all my travels have I seen such an inspiring and educational consumer-focused event. It felt like the vision of patient-centered care coming alive before my eyes." The CT Partners for Health has been recognized as a finalist in the Hartford Business Journal’s Healthcare Heroes 2013 Awards Program with the winners being announced on December 3.
• Qualidigm facilitated the Connecticut Culture Change Coalition (CTCCC) in 2006, which includes providers, regulators, consumers, families, and long-term care stakeholders who work toward the common goal of improving the culture of our Connecticut nursing homes. Partnering with the Connecticut Department of Health, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman's Office, nursing home trade associations and long-term care providers, the CTCCC continues to transform Connecticut nursing homes from institutional settings to person-centered, home-like environments. Through Qualidigm’s consulting efforts, key 2013 success indicators among nursing homes in Connecticut include an 89 percent reduction in the use of physical restraints, a 63.8 percent reduction in pressure ulcers, and a 17 percent reduction in the inappropriate use of antipsychotics.
• Qualidigm's Care Transitions Initiative, an effective, community-based approach to reducing preventable hospital admissions and readmissions for all-cause disease states has grown to include more than 150 voluntary healthcare and community-based organizations throughout Connecticut. Participants in the Care Transitions Initiative represent hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, hospice, specialty-care practices and numerous physician practices in 14 statewide geographies. Since deploying this community approach in 2010, Qualidigm estimates the cost savings associated with avoiding preventable rehospitalizations for relevant Medicare patients to be more than $5.4 million here in Connecticut. In 2011, the Hartford Business Journal recognized this initiative as a Healthcare Hero for "advancements in healthcare prevention."
• To-date, Qualidigm has offered consulting services to more than 400 Connecticut clinicians who have either achieved or are working toward Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) accreditation by the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA).
Sponsored by the Connecticut State Medical Society, Qualidigm opened its doors in 1983 in Meriden, Conn. with four full-time employees. The Wethersfield-based company now employs 66 people who fulfill the company's mission to advance the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of healthcare by providing consulting, data analysis, outpatient services, patient safety designs and implementations, quality improvement and utilization review. For three decades, Qualidigm has shared best practices and thought leadership about transforming healthcare delivery and patient outcomes through more than 180 publications in relevant journals and through industry presentations given locally, nationally, and internationally.
Company Contact: Nancy Kelly, Qualidigm, http://www.qualidigm.org, +1 (860) 632-6340, [email protected]
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