Regional Quality Improvement Hub (QI Hub) Project

Improving Care Delivery for Medicaid Patients with Chronic Conditions, Reducing Health Disparities, and Strengthening Systems of Care Across Ohio

The Regional Quality Improvement Hub Project (QI Hub) is designed to advance the Ohio Department of Medicaid’s (ODM) population health strategy by improving care delivery for Medicaid patients with chronic conditions, reducing health disparities, and strengthening systems of care across Ohio.  Through this initiative, the partner medical schools are not only improving outcomes for patients today but also laying the foundation for a data-driven QI across the state of Ohio.
Together, “spoke sites” located at six of Ohio’s Colleges of Medicine form Regional Quality Improvement Hubs that support local clinics, hospitals, and community organizations in implementing evidence-based, scalable, and sustainable QI strategies. The focus is on chronic conditions such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes, with each college contributing unique expertise and leadership.

Implementing QI around Ohio

In year one (2023), leadership teams at each CoM Regional QI Hub developed infrastructure to support the implementation of QI activities, including the establishment of patient and family advisory groups, and outreach to community organizations for additional support.  

In year two (2024), Regional QI Hubs each engaged at least 10 practices to implement QI activities focused on the areas of hypertension and diabetes. In sum, a total of 77 spoke sites participated. 

In year three (2025), Regional QI Hubs each engaged 10 more practice sites and 72 additional sites joined the project with a continued focus on the areas of hypertension and diabetes.

Looking ahead, Regional QI Hubs will leverage learned best practices to support robust and widespread implementation of QI activities with a goal to disseminate to additional sites in future years, reaching approximately 60% or more of the target population in the region within a 5-year period.