New Strategies Ramping Up Quality in Wisconsin Medicaid Managed Care: Wisconsin’s Medicaid HMO program Is One of the Oldest in the Country,but Its Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement Strategy Is Rapidly Evolving to Meet New Needs

Abstract

A comprehensive quality assessment and performance improvement strategy is common sense and is required by new federal laws for states’ Medicaid managed care programs. However, not all states have Medicaid managed care programs, and of those that do, no two use identical types of managed care models, contract requirements, or specified performance measures. This article presents Wisconsin’s Medicaid managed care program quality strategy that has been in operation and under constant refinement since 1984.