§ 2807-I — Service and quality improvement grants

§ 2807-i. Service and quality improvement grants. 1. Grants to\nfacilitate cooperative ventures for sharing administrative, management\nand operational services. a. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision\nof law to the contrary, within amounts available therefor, the\ncommissioner shall make grants pursuant to this subdivision to eligible\napplicants to facilitate cooperative ventures for sharing\nadministrative, management and operational services among general\nhospitals and other health care providers. Funded projects shall include\ntwo or more hospitals and may also include other health care providers\nin coordination with those hospitals. Funded projects shall be designed\nto demonstrate the extent to which such cooperative arrangements would\nresult in a reduction in costs to the facilities involved.\n b. In order to be eligible to receive a grant under this subdivision,\napplicants shall prepare and submit to the commissioner a proposal at\nsuch time, in such manner and containing such information as the\ncommissioner may require, including:\n (i) a statement that such providers desire to negotiate and enter into\na voluntary agreement;\n (ii) a description of the nature and scope of the activities\ncontemplated in the cooperative agreement;\n (iii) a description of the financial arrangement between the providers\nthat are parties to the agreement;\n (iv) a description of the geographic area generally served by the\nproviders;\n (v) a description of the anticipated benefits and advantages to\nproviders and to health care consumers;\n (vi) a description of how the proposal will be coordinated with the\nregional health plan; and\n (vii) any other information determined appropriate by the\ncommissioner.\n c. In awarding grants under this subdivision, the commissioner shall\nassure that there is a sufficiently representative geographic and size\ndistribution of grantees, including urban, rural and suburban grantees.\n d. Amounts provided under a grant awarded under this subdivision shall\nonly be used for the planning of cooperative ventures and shared\nservices.\n e. Grantees shall submit reports to the commissioner in such form and\nat such times as the commissioner may by regulation require, for the\npurpose of evaluating the operations and results of such program.\n f. The commissioner in evaluating proposals pursuant to this section\nshall give primary consideration to the financial condition of\napplicants; provided however, that an applicant's financial condition\nshall not be the sole grounds for approval or rejection.\n 2. Management information systems grants. Notwithstanding any\ninconsistent provision of law to the contrary, within amounts available\ntherefor, the commissioner shall make grants pursuant to this\nsubdivision to general hospitals, not to exceed two hundred thousand\ndollars per hospital, for the purposes of expanding and improving their\ninformation management capabilities. In order to be eligible for grants\npursuant to this subdivision, general hospitals which have experienced\noperating losses for the past two consecutive years, provided such\noperating losses have been at least two percent of such hospital's\noperating expenses, shall submit proposals which demonstrate that:\n a. hospital management, productivity, and operations would be enhanced\nby improvements to the hospital's current management information system\ncapabilities;\n b. the cost of providing services would be contained or patient access\nto care or the quality of patient care would be improved;\n c. such hospital's clinical, management and finance information\nsystems would be integrated; and\n d. cost finding and cost accounting capabilities would be enhanced.\n 3. Continuous quality improvement grants. Grants shall be awarded to\ngeneral hospitals, within amounts available therefor, to establish\nprograms to improve quality assurance activities. Such programs shall\nseek to promote and encourage continuous quality improvement by\nintegrating traditional medical staff review functions with risk\nmanagement and infection control activities. Grants shall be used to\nsupport the following:\n a. the establishment of a mission statement, an accompanying long term\nstrategic plan and allocation of institutional resources which reflect\nthe institution's commitment to continuous quality improvement;\n b. the establishment of quality improvement activities which will\nenhance all institutional processes, including clinical, managerial and\nsupport functions;\n c. activities which support a multidisciplinary collaborative approach\nto quality improvement;\n d. integration of management information systems to improve health\ncare delivery; and\n e. an educational program on continuous quality improvement to inform\nstaff of the institution's mission and plan for quality.\n 4. Equitable distribution. Funding shall as far as practicable be\nequitably distributed among applicants in urban, suburban and rural\nareas of the state.\n