To support continued population health improvement across New Jersey, the Department of Health (DOH) has developed and will implement a hospital performance initiative called the Quality Improvement Program - New Jersey (QIP-NJ), effective July 1, 2021, as approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. QIP-NJ will be administered by DOH in conjunction with the Department of Human Services (DHS) as a Medicaid pay-for-performance initiative open to all acute care hospitals in the state.

The focus of the program is to advance statewide quality improvements in maternal health and behavioral health (BH). All acute care hospitals in New Jersey are 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 BH services, and
• reductions in potentially preventable utilization for the BH population.

QIP-NJ will further advance and support statewide quality improvements in maternal health and BH, in alignment with State leadership, i.e., New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy's Nurture NJ Maternal and Infant Health Plan, and the broader goals of the Murphy Administration and its focus on BH. QIP-NJ will also provide ample opportunities for technical assistance and robust Learning Collaboratives for hospitals to support them in achieving QIP-NJ goals. For more information regarding QIP-NJ, please review the information contained on the Documents & Resources webpage.