Maintenance of Certification: ABCD III State Efforts to Capitalize on an Incentive for Quality Improvement
With support from The Commonwealth Fund, five state Medicaid agencies in the third Assuring Better Child Health and Development (ABCD III) learning collaborative partnered with primary care practices and community providers to improve care coordination for young children identified with potential developmental delay. Some ABCD states developed quality improvement projects to improve care coordination that provide physicians credit toward maintaining their Board certification as pediatricians. This provided an added incentive for physician participation and assured the collection of needed data. The brief provides background on the “Maintenance of Certification” (MOC) quality improvement credit, lessons learned about structuring quality improvement projects on care coordination, and the value of being able to offer the MOC credit.
| abcd_moc_final.pdf | 213.8 KB |
For individuals living with complex, often chronic conditions, and their families, palliative care can provide relief from symptoms, improve satisfaction and outcomes, and help address critical mental and spiritual needs during difficult times. Now more than ever, there is growing recognition of the importance of palliative care services for individuals with serious illness, such as advance care planning, pain and symptom management, care coordination, and team-based, multi-disciplinary support. These services can help patients and families cope with the symptoms and stressors of disease, better anticipate and avoid crises, and reduce unnecessary and/or unwanted care. While this model is grounded in evidence that demonstrates improved quality of life, better outcomes, and reduced cost for patients, only a fraction of individuals who could benefit from palliative care receive it. 
