The Division of Health Improvement (DHI) plays a critical role on improving the health outcomes and ensuring the safety of New Mexicans. DHI ensures that healthcare facilities, community based Medicaid waiver providers and community support services deliver safe and effective healthcare and community services in accordance with laws, regulations, and standards of practice.

DHI works closely with key stakeholders to promote and protect the health, safety, and quality of life of New Mexicans. Our stakeholders include executive and legislative policy makers; providers; facilities and contractors; other state, local, and federal government agencies; advocacy groups; professional organizations; provider associations; various task forces and commissions; and the tax paying public at large.

Key DHI enforcement activities include: conducting various health and safety surveys for both facilities and community-based programs; conducting investigations of alleged abuse, neglect, exploitation, death or environmental hazards; and processing over 44,000 caregiver criminal history screenings annually.

FY19 OPERATING BUDGET: $13,798,500

• General Funds: $5,010,000
• Other Transfers: $4,404,000
• Federal Funds: $2,422,800
• Other State Funds: $1,961,700

During the first quarter of FY19, some of DHI’s accomplishments included:

• DHI passed the Human Services Department's subrecipient audit for home health and facility survey services.
• DHI met all federal non-long-term care (NLTC) facility survey workload requirements for this survey cycle.
• All NLTC survey staff completed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) End Stage Renal Disease certification training.
• DHI successfully trained and implemented the new CMS long-term care survey process statewide.
• CMS requested DHI to present a “best practice” at nationwide Association of Federal Health Care Surveyors Association conference 2019.
• DHI underwent substantial leadership changes and is restructuring its programing to provide improved customer service and improved survey quality to the residents of New Mexico.
• The DHI Incident Management Bureau (IMB) disengaged from Jackson Objective S1.1.2, “Provide educational material about how to detect ANE.”
• The DHI Quality Management Bureau (QMB) completed 18 trainings for providers and NMDOH Developmental Disabilities Supports Division (DDSD) regional staff on the revised QMB survey process using the new 2018 waiver standards.
• Fully staffed the IMB “Jackson" Individual Quality Review (IQR) team. The IQR Team is conducting individual reviews of the Jackson class members in fulfillment of the Court's Community Practice Review monitoring requirement.
• Processed 11,199 caregiver criminal history screens with an average processing time of one day to complete the background check.
• Received, screened, and processed 4,553 health facility complaints.