The GNYHA Foundation has developed the Quality Coach Fellowship (QCF) program, a multidisciplinary training program to educate staff at GNYHA member hospitals on various quality and patient safety initiatives. The program focuses in particular on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quality measures. The QCF program is designed to optimize facility performance scores on quality report cards that are expected to impact future hospital reimbursement through a pay-for-performance (P4P) mechanism. The Foundation developed the training with support from a grant awarded by the New York State Department of Health through the Health Workforce Retraining Initiative. 

The QCF program facilitates the development of hospital-based quality improvement coaches to ensure that patient care:

• is provided in a manner consistent with the various P4P initiatives;
• is properly documented; and
• will be properly recognized by CMS and other payers for reimbursement and quality purposes.

The QCF program trains hospital personnel from many disciplines, including environmental services, food service, nursing, and transportation, to be quality improvement coaches. The program's four phases are as follows.

• Phase 1: Two-day Workshop
  Target Audience: Hospital Staff Designated to be Quality Coaches
• Phase 2: On-site Training Sessions
  Target Audience: All Hospital Staff
• Phase 3: Hospital Forums
  Target Audience: Quality Coaches and Hospital Administration
• Phase 4: Measuring Outcomes
  Target Audience: Quality Improvement Staff, Quality Coaches, and Hospital Administration

For a program description and details regarding each phase, download the QCF Program Description 20.1 KB.

Download Frequently Asked Questions 9.9 KB about the role of quality coaches.

For information on CMS’ Quality Measures, go to The Medicare Quality Monitoring System.

For resources on Pay-for-Performance, go to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Resource Center.