The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded a four-year contract to Comagine Health, Stratis Health, and other partners to lead the American Indian/Alaska Native Healthcare Quality Initiative within the CMS Network of Quality Improvement and Innovation Contractors (NQIIC).

Comagine Health, Stratis Health, and Mountain-Pacific Quality Health are co-leading this effort, supported by several quality improvement organizations, including Great Plains QIN-QIO, Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality, and Telligen. The partners previously led this work for four years in Arizona, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.

The new work will continue to provide technical assistance to all of the 25 Medicare-certified Indian Health Service (IHS)-managed hospitals across the country to assist with pandemic response and emergency preparedness and to help reduce opioid-related mortality, improve patient safety, and improve transitions of care among the American Indian/Alaska Native community.

For more information about Comagine Health, please visit comagine.org. Learn more on hospital quality improvement at www.cms.gov.