Henry Norwood, Esq. quoted in the Healthcare Risk Management article: How to Educate the Board on Quality and Safety as QAPI Expects, 1-3-2024

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program requires educating the board on quality and safety. Risk managers should use the best tactics to comply with the requirement.

• Give regular presentations at monthly board meetings.
• Speak in terms the board members can understand.
• Emphasize that board members are responsible for QAPI compliance.

The expanded role of the QAPI program under the updated guidance requires hospital boards to take a more hands-on approach to compliance, says Henry Norwood, JD, an attorney with Kaufman Dolowich in San Francisco. The routine presence at board meetings of hospital staff tasked with implementing the QAPI program for each department would ensure a continuous dialogue between the board and those handling the QAPI program every day. Board members should be provided regular updates on the progress of QAPI initiatives in advance of meetings and provide opportunities for hospital staff to suggest changes to the QAPI program.

“Documentation of the board’s involvement is key under the updated guidance. The emphasis the guidance places on surveyors to monitor hospitals’ QAPI progress and adherence to the QAPI standards underscores the importance of ensuring documentation of the board’s involvement in the QAPI process,” Norwood says. “Inclusion of the board’s QAPI decisions should be included in meeting minutes, agendas, and regular communications throughout all hospital departments.”

Although the updated guidance requires greater efforts from board members, it also provides the board with an opportunity to contribute to improved quality more directly in the hospitals they serve, Norwood says.

Read more at the full article.