Improving the quality, safety, value and equity of care for people with Medicare is at the core of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program. People with Medicare can: 

• File a complaint about the quality of care they received. 
• Appeal a health care provider’s decision to discontinue services or appeal their discharge from the hospital. 
• Get involved and make their voices heard through advisory councils and other local initiatives.
• Participate in Immediate Advocacy with a health care provider to quickly get an answer to a concern.

Appoint a Representative

As a person with Medicare, you have the right to appoint a representative if you need help filing a complaint or appeal. Your representative can be a family member, friend, advocate, attorney, doctor, or anyone else you trust to act on your behalf. To appoint a representative, fill out an Appointment of Representative form and submit it to your Beneficiary & Family Centered Care-QIO (BFCC-QIO). Click here to find your BFCC-QIO.

Check Your Case Status

Beneficiary & Family Centered Care-Quality Improvement Organizations (BFCC-QIOs) offer an online tool to check your case status and follow it through each stage of the process. To check your case status, click here to locate the BFCC-QIO for your state then click the Case Lookup or Case Status Check button on your BFCC-QIO’s website. You will need the case ID number you received when you first filed your appeal. Depending on your BFCC-QIO, statuses may only be available for certain types of cases.