Two Quality Improvement Activities HCFA & SAMHSA are Undertaking  
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES  
200 Independence 
Avenue, SW Washington, 
D.C. 20201  
April 13, 2000  
Dear Colleague:  
We are pleased to inform you about two quality improvement activities the Health Care 
Financing Administration (HCFA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration (SAMHSA) are undertaking. They are briefly described below.  
First, we have contracted with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to offer States two 
collaborative projects; one on asthma and one on depression. These collaborative projects are 
designed to assist State Medicaid agencies in developing or improving their capacity to 
implement quality improvement activities or to provide technical assistance to contracting 
managed care organizations. Please see the enclosed fact sheet that describes the IHI 
collaborative project structure and timeline.  
The second activity is an information sharing conference that we will be co-sponsoring on quality 
assessment and improvement tools that States can use to measure and improve the health care 
provided to their Medicaid beneficiaries. The conference will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, on 
September 26 28, 2000. A save-the-date postcard has been sent to State staff designated as 
potential attendees by HCFA Regional Office staff and by SAMHSA. A copy is enclosed for your 
reference.  
We are very excited about convening this information sharing conference and are happy to 
announce that both agencies have funds available to support State participants, one person from the 
State Medicaid agency and one person from the State Mental Health/Substance Abuse agency. If 
the State has separate agencies for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, we will fund one person 
from each agency. We encourage additional State staff to participate as well. We anticipate that 
management as well as quality improvement staff will participate in this conference. We will be 
sharing information in areas such as calculating performance measures, administering consumer 
and provider surveys, and using encounter data for quality measurement purposes. We hope to 
provide States with a vehicle to share their experiences for improving quality of care for Medicaid 
beneficiaries. In addition, we plan to address the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 requirements for 
quality oversight of Medicaid managed care, and to  
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HCFA & SAMHSA are Undertaking  
explore tools that can be used to assess the quality of care provided to populations with special 
health care needs including beneficiaries with behavioral health care needs.   Page 2 -Dear Colleague  
Among the highlights of this conference, States will have the opportunity to participate in a 
workshop with IHI, on the third day, on either the asthma or depression collaborative. States must 
commit in advance to participate in one or both collaboratives mentioned above.  
We have scheduled a conference call May 17, 2000 from 3:00 to 4:00 EDT for States to explore 
this opportunity with IHI. If you are interested in this project, we need the name and contact 
information of the State official who will represent your agency. We suggest that the Medicaid 
Director, Substance Abuse Director, and Mental Health Director or other senior official participate 
on the call.  
Please fill out the enclosed IHI collaborative project participation form and return by May 1 to:  
Sharon Gilles  
HCFA/CMSO/QPMG/DQSM  
7500 Security Boulevard, Mail Stop S3- 13- 15  
Baltimore, MD 21244-1850 
 
Again, we are very excited to be able to offer you the opportunity to work with IHI and attend 
our conference. We look forward to your participation. If you have any questions, please contact 
Sharon Gilles on 410-786-1177 or Deirdre Duzor on 410-786-4626.  
Sincerely,  
/s/  
Timothy M. Westmoreland Director Center for Medicaid and State Operations Health Care 
Financing Administration  
Joseph A. Autry, MD. Deputy, Administrator Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration  
Enclosures  
Page 3 -Dear Colleague  
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HCFA & SAMHSA are Undertaking  
cc:  
All HCFA Regional Administrators 
  All HCFA Associate Regional Administrators for Medicaid and State Operations  
Lee Partridge Director, Health Policy Unit American Public Human Services Association  
Joy Wilson Director, Health Committee National Conference of State Legislatures  
Matt Salo Director of Health Legislation National Governors' Association  
Jack Gustafson Executive Director, National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse 
Directors  
Bob Glover Executive Director, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors  
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