Developing a culture of quality: Implementing a dashboard to monitor administrative efficiencies of Medicaid service delivery to low-income populations

More efficient administration of Medicaid services positively impacts beneficiaries by providing timely, better coordinated services. Hospitals have historically used quality dashboards with great effectiveness to track performance against clinical benchmarks and goals; however, application of the QI approach has not been adopted universally on the payor side of the delivery system. This project aims to encourage improvements in efficiency and service delivery to the underserved through the utilization of a quality indicator (QI) dashboard that provides real-time data tracking across all operational departments in a Medicaid health plan (Lipa; Lane County, Oregon). While management is expected to assess overall departmental performance, individual departments have a unique perspective regarding which indicators may most accurately reflect that performance. As suggested by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, initial QI meetings will be held with employees from each sub-department to better understand the administrative system from the bottom up. Using department feedback, QIs specific to each department will be developed and tested, gap analysis performed, and composite metrics created. The demand for evidence-based decision making across all sectors of healthcare is increasing. Yet, many health plans do not possess the information required to maximize efficiency and optimize population health. Implementation of this dashboard will engage employees at all levels to ensure they are participating in QI activities and using appropriate metrics to track progress toward goals. This project hopes to create a culture of shared responsibility in quality improvement, thereby increasing efficiency and improving service delivery to Medicaid recipients.