Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced a new plan on July 31 to transform the health care system by paying for better performance and better outcomes. The plan is called Quality Care and Rewarding Excellence (QCare), and ICSI guidelines are serving as the foundation for three of the four QCare goals.

QCare is initially setting standards for quality of care in four areas where much of Minnesota’s health care dollars are spent: diabetes, hospital stays, preventive care for adults and children, and cardiac care. In each of the areas, quality will be measured, reported and rewarded.

"ICSI has always viewed its guidelines as a community resource, so it’s heartening to see them used by QCare as the foundation of care for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and preventive services," said ICSI President Sanne Magnan, MD, PhD.

"ICSI will support QCare by revising these guidelines frequently so they stay up-to-date and will continue to provide our member organizations with action groups, workshops and other activities that support the systematic delivery of care that is both safe and effective," Magnan said.

Magnan noted ICSI also is working in collaboration with Safest in America (SIA) to support hospital safety. SIA includes 10 organizations in the Twin Cities area and Rochester, Minn.

To implement the QCare program, Pawlenty signed an executive order directing state government to apply QCare standards and align payments and incentives for all state purchased health care, such as Medical Assistance, Minnesota Care and Minnesota Advantage. Private sector health care purchasers and providers will be encouraged to adopt QCare through the Smart Buy Alliance, a public-private partnership of heath care purchasers in Minnesota, and other mechanisms.

QCare identifies quality measures, sets aggressive targets for health care providers, makes measures available to the public online, and changes the payment system to reward quality.