Importance of partnering with health insurance carriers for quality improvement research

Quality improvement initiatives are integral to the practice of surgery. Collaborative quality improvement (CQI) initiatives engaging providers and payers with a common goal of improving patient care are powerful tools, which can facilitate data collection, implementation, and subsequent assessment of outcomes. Private payer programs engaging physician-driven initiatives have shown statistically significant improvements in patient care. Additionally, established by federal funding, public collaborative quality improvement organizations also serve to intimately pair the hospital, physician, and payer in an effort to advance and improve healthcare for all patients. Requisite to successful CQIs is the buy-in of the hospitals, providers, sufficient payer-led resources and infrastructure for collaborative meetings and data management, and project management to facilitate regular engagement of participating providers.