Medicaid Performance Improvement Projects: A Means of System Transformation

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) have recently undertaken an initiative to promote systemwide performance improvement in Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) by means of mandated Performance Improvement Projects (PIPs). The PIP initiative follows the general approach of conventional quality improvement methods, and draws extensively on earlier CMS initiatives as well as work done by others in the field, notably the National Committee for Quality Assurance. The protocol for conducting a PIP developed by CMS lays out a general framework for these activities and specific requirements to which they must conform. This FastFacts describes the ways in which the PIP protocol follows the general approach of conventional quality improvement methods. Download Publication