Our Story and History
Qsource
Our Story
Qsource began as the Shelby County Foundation for Medical Care, founded by Dr. Leon Swatzell as a Professional Standard Review Organization in 1973. However, the real beginning of our story predates that founding with the 1965 Social Security Act—a watershed bill with a provision that required all states to have an independent organization conduct utilization, cost and quality reviews for Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries.
Through our five decades of existence, we’ve seen the healthcare landscape change, as the paradigm shifted to patient-centered care bolstered by regulatory standard requirements on the federal, state, and local levels.
A Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) that helps an array of care facilities meet modern day challenges, we are a nonprofit delivering solutions to difficult problems that impede health care quality, supplying practical solutions that work at the bedside to improve quality for providers and patients. In this effort, we monitor the effectiveness of care across many different lanes of the healthcare ecosystem.
You are passionate about the health of your communities and need real solutions to healthcare- and administration-related obstacles that are difficult to overcome. Our goal is to build a relationship with you and your team—listening, learning, collaborating, and growing together for the better of those we serve.
In the years since our founding, we have expanded our Quality Improvement and Assurance services into other states and other federal contracts. For today’s Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care Facilities, we offer:
- Mock Surveys
- Survey Readiness
- Immediate Jeopardy Rapid Response
- Reimbursement Enhancement
- Competency Based Training and Education
- Infection Control
- QAPI Development
- Star Rating Improvement
We are fully staffed with previous nursing home workers with at least 10 years of experience, along with Directors of Nursing, Minimum Data Set (MDS) coordinators, and state surveyors. We were all once in your position—as such, we provide resources that we know work, at price points that make sense for nursing homes.
This is critical to our services.
We solve our customers’ Quality Improvement and Quality Assurance needs through constant attention to detail, decades of market experience, and talented team members who are experts in the healthcare sectors that affect our clients.
Qsource History
2022 Nursing Home Rapid Response Team
Qsource pursues a growth strategy that incorporates direct customer sales to its expanding business portfolio.
2021 Qsource Expands EQR Services to Indiana
Qsource expands EQR services, adding the state of Indiana in 2021.
2020 EQR Services for Arkansas
Qsource expands our EQRO Division to include Arkansas.
2019 QIN-QIO Contract for State of Indiana
Qsource is awarded the QIN-QIO contract for the state of Indiana.
2018 EQRO Expands to Florida
Qsource expands its EQRO enterprise, with an award to conduct external quality review for Florida’s HealthyKids CHIP contract.
2017 (QPP-SURS) Technical Assistance Contracts in Alabama and Tennessee
Qsource and Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation partner to earn the five-year CMS Quality Payment Program (QPP-SURS) Technical Assistance contracts in Alabama and Tennessee.
2016 Qsource and NSI Merge
Qsource and Network Strategies and Innovation (NSI) merge, with the dissolution of the NSI entity and brand. Qsource gains the ESRD Networks 10 & 12 contracts, expanding our footprint into five new states.
2014 atom Alliance formed as QIN-QIO
Qsource partners with two previous QIOs — IQH in Mississippi and AQAF in Alabama — to form the regional QIN-QIO known as atom Alliance.
2012 Annual Excellence in Tennessee Commitment Award
Qsource earns the Commitment Award in the annual Excellence in Tennessee recognition program administered by the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE). TNCPE is Tennessee’s only state-wide quality program patterned on the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program, the national standard for recognizing organizational excellence.
2010 New Logo. New Brand.
Qsource creates a new logo and brand that is more consistent with our mission, launches a new slogan, 'Healthcare Made Better,' and introduces lifestyle images.
2010 tnREC Created
With the 2014 deadline for nationwide HIT adoption looming, entities known as Regional Extension Centers (RECs) are created. The ONC awards Qsource a grant to serve as Tennessee’s REC. tnREC is charged with helping physician practices, hospitals and other healthcare service providers integrate HIT and implement EHRs.
2008 Qsource-Arkansas Established
Qsource expands its geographic reach, opening Qsource-Arkansas to provide therapy review and prior authorization services for Arkansas Medicaid recipients under the age of 21.
2002 New Name. New Logo.
The Mid-South Foundation for Medical Care, Inc., changes its name to the Center for Healthcare Quality to reflect the change in mission as outlined by Medicare. A line of services is initiated under the service mark, Qsource.
2000 MSFMC begins EQRO work for TennCare
MSFMC enters into a subcontractor agreement with Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG), the organization serving as the External Quality Review Organization (EQRO), providing quality oversight of managed care contractors in Tennessee.
1984 Medicare Contract: 1st Scope of Work (SOW)
After implementation of federal legislation, MSFMC becomes the Peer Review Organization for Tennessee. Contract goals include reducing unnecessary admissions and ensuring that payment rates match the diagnostic and procedural information contained in the patient records.
1977 Name Change: Mid-South Foundation for Medical Care
Our organization's name is changed to Mid-South Foundation for Medical Care, Inc. (MSFMC).
1973 Shelby County Foundation for Medical Care
The Shelby County Foundation for Medical Care, located in Memphis, is chartered as a non-profit physician peer review organization for the State of Tennessee. The corporation is founded to implement and operate a Professional Standards Review Organization (PSRO) in 13 counties in western Tennessee.