To support continued population health improvement across New Jersey, the Department of Health (DOH) has developed a hospital performance initiative called the Quality Improvement Program - New Jersey (QIP-NJ). QIP-NJ will be administered by DOH in conjunction with the Department of Human Services as a Medicaid pay-for-performance initiative open to all acute care hospitals in the state.

The focus of the planned program is to advance statewide quality improvements in maternal health and behavioral health. All acute care hospitals in New Jersey will be eligible for QIP-NJ performance payments. Hospitals will earn QIP-NJ incentive payments through the achievement of performance targets on state-selected quality measures that demonstrate:

• improvements in maternal care processes
• reductions in maternal morbidity
• improvements in connections to behavioral health services, and
• reductions in potentially preventable utilization for the behavioral health population.

The New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) has decided to delay the start date for the Quality Improvement Program - New Jersey (QIP-NJ), which will not start on July 1, 2020 as originally planned. DOH is instead intending to start QIP-NJ on July 1, 2021, contingent upon the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approval of the State's proposed policy design. All program rules and requirements are subject to change pending official CMS approval.

DOH and the Department of Human Services are implementing a Medicaid payment for acute care hospitals for State Fiscal Year 2021 known as the QIP-NJ "Bridge" Payment. Information regarding this payment is available on the Resources webpage.