MQAI, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Florida, presented its Hospital Participation Certificate to Holmes Regional Medical Center. Holmes was one of sixty-one Florida hospitals to receive the certificate for participating in national projects designed to improve the quality of health care of Medicare beneficiaries.

To receive this certification, Holmes Regional Medical Center was required to successfully meet requirements for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 8th Scope of Work Appropriate Care Measure (ACM) Identified Participant Group(s).

The Appropriate Care Measure group focused on topics related to the care of the patient with heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia.

The Surgical Care Improvement Project addressed preventive care immediately before, during, and immediately after specific types of surgery.

The Systems Improvement/Organizational Culture Change group assessed readiness for health information technology.

The Rural Organizational Safety Culture Change group looked at specific patient safety concerns.

According to Gladys Worlds, FMQAI Hospital Quality Improvement Project Director, the participating hospitals were recognized for the initiatives they took to implement quality improvement interventions by using rapid cycle improvement, establishing internal infrastructures for continuous quality improvement, and implementing system changes. "These efforts demonstrate an improvement in the rate of compliance on clinical measures, which reflects an improvement in the care provided to patients."