The Telligen Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) is a network of quality improvement initiatives that place health care providers and consumers at the center to make health care safer, more accessible and more cost-effective through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Telligen provides assistance to nursing homes, hospitals, clinicians, health departments, Area Agencies on Aging, emergency medical services, pharmacists, community-based organizations, faith communities, patient and family advocates and other participating community partners interested in making a lasting impact at the grass roots level to make care safer, more accessible and less costly for their community members.

Using Data to Understand Communities

The Telligen team uses several data inputs to better understand the communities it serves. The Community Rankings Report was created to aggregate publicly available data into a snapshot of performance for each Telligen community within its region. These datasets include rates for: COVID-19, COVID-19 deaths, opioid prescribing, emergency department visits , inpatient hospitalizations  and more. The report cites several sources such as CMS, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Census Bureau. The Community Rankings Report includes meaningful metrics related to initiatives specific to the QIN-QIO work and demonstrates value to Telligen’s partners.

The findings in the Community Rankings Report allow for broad comparison of the Telligen communities. When coupled with its internal performance metrics, the report allows Telligen to identify communities that could benefit from customized technical assistance and guides Telligen’s outreach and strategic partnerships. Additionally, higher performing communities can be identified, and successful strategies can be disseminated through peer-to-peer sharing, not only across Telligen communities but across the QIN-QIO’s entire region. The Telligen team is highly skilled at convening these partners and facilitating the flow of information. 

Data Identifies Opportunities for Improvement and Technical Assistance

Data drives decision-making, and the Community Rankings Report is an essential component of Telligen’s data strategy, directing the technical assistance it provides to partners within its communities. The compilation of data is appealing for Telligen QI Connect™ partners as it provides a retrospective review of data for that community, presents benchmarks and performance trends and highlights priorities. Using these data inputs, the Telligen team has identified communities that have the most opportunity for improvement and conducted thorough environmental scans of those communities to guide technical assistance. This process is used to identify characteristics of the community such as demographics, availability and access to health care, key community leaders and other factors to better understand the needs of the community and to help make a connection to Telligen partners. 

This material was prepared by The Bizzell Group (Bizzell), the Data Validation and Administrative (DVA) contractor, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Views expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of CMS or HHS, and any reference to a specific product or entity herein does not constitute endorsement of that product or entity by CMS or HHS. 12SOW/Bizzell/DVA-1149-07/18/2023