CMS’ Government Task Leader for the Quality Improvement Organization Program’s Coordination of Care Task highlights the efforts in improving care transitions and coordination of care.

Dr. Adebola Adeleye is an Advanced Practicing Nurse who currently works as a Nurse Consultant at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In this role, she serves as the Government Task Leader for the Coordination of Care Task for the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program. Her primary responsibilities include serving as a subject matter expert, and overseeing Quality Innovation Network-QIOs’ (QIN-QIOs) quality improvement efforts in the areas of care transitions and coordination of care for Medicare beneficiaries.

Q. What were some of the accomplishments achieved by the QIO Program in the area of Care Transitions from 2011-2014?

A. Our Care Transitions work during that time period was known as “Integrating Care for Populations and Communities.” Our aim was to reduce avoidable hospital admissions and readmissions, and to improve the coordination of care for Medicare beneficiaries transitioning from one care setting to another. QIOs built multi-stakeholder community coalitions serving a geographically defined set of beneficiaries nationwide to carry out their work. More than 14 million Medicare beneficiaries resided in the communities served by the QIO Program. Working in collaboration with partners, QIOs contributed to health cost savings of nearly $1 billion by preventing avoidable hospital admissions and readmissions. The Program prevented over 95,000 beneficiaries from being admitted to the hospital and over 27,000 beneficiaries from being readmitted.

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