Massachusetts Health Quality Partners Inc

MHQP'S MISSION IS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES DELIVERED TO THE RESIDENTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. WE DO THIS BY GATHERING USEFUL INFORMATION FROM PATIENTS AND PROVIDERS, MAKING SENSE OF COMPLEX DATA, AND EXTRACTING AND SHARING VALUABLE INSIGHTS WITH STAKEHOLDERS. MHQP'S PRIMARY FOCUS AREAS ARE IMPROVING PATIENT EXPERIENCE, ADVANCING HEALTH EQUITY, AND STRENGTHENING PRIMARY CARE.

MASSHEALTH PATIENT EXPERIENCE SURVEY - UNDER THIS STATE CONTRACT MHQP MEASURES THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE FOR PRIMARY CARE, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, AND LONG-TERM SERVICES AND SUPPORTS FOR MEMBERS ENROLLED IN MASSHEALTH'S ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONS. THE SURVEYS MHQP DEVELOPED FOR MASSHEALTH ARE THE FIRST TO BE USED TO CARRY OUT STATEWIDE MEASUREMENT OF THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE FOR A MEDICAID POPULATION.

1)PRIMARY CARE DASHBOARD, 2)CLINICAL GUIDELINES, 3)INEQUITIES IN PAIN CARE PATIENT CENTERED OUTCOMES RESEARCH INSTITUTE (PCORI) AWARDS, 4) DISPARITIES IN PATIENT EXPERIENCES OF CARE.1)IN COLLABORATION WITH MASSACHUSETTS' CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS (CHIA) MHQP CREATED A DASHBOARD TO MONITOR THE HEALTH OF THE PRIMARY CARE SYSTEM IN THE STATE. PRIMARY CARE, THE FOUNDATION OF OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM HAS BEEN UNDER STRAIN FOR MANY YEARS AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ADDED SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES TO THE SURVIVAL OF PRIMARY CARE PRACTICES. MHQP AND CHIA'S DASHBOARD IS A FIRST IN THE NATION EFFORT TO MONITOR THE HEALTH OF PRIMARY CARE TO INFORM POLICYMAKING. 2)ANNUALLY, MHQP AND OUR EXPERT COLLABORATORS REVISE THREE SETS OF EVIDENCE-BASED CLINICAL CARE GUIDELINES FOR USE BY PAYERS AND PROVIDERS, IMPROVING EFFICIENCY BY CENTRALIZING THIS COMMON NEED. MHQP'S GUIDELINES ADDRESS ADULT AND PEDIATRIC PRIMARY CARE, AND PERINATAL CARE. MHQP'S GUIDELINES INCORPORATE HEALTH EQUITY FOCUSED MATERIAL AND IN 2023 WE WORKED WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND EXPERT ADVISORS TO EQUIP PROVIDERS WITH A NUANCED AND ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING OF THE DRIVERS OF HEALTH INEQUITIES. 3)MHQP DEVELOPED AND EXECUTED TWO MULTI-STAKEHOLDER CONVENINGS FOCUSED ON INEQUITIES IN PAIN CARE FUNDED THROUGH PCORI STAKEHOLDER CONVENING SUPPORT AWARDS WHICH DREW ON PATIENT EXPERIENCES OF CARE AND PATIENT PREFERRED OUTCOMES TO DEVELOP A RESEARCH AGENDA FOR FUTURE WORK TO INVESTIGATE INTERVENTIONS TO ADDRESS DISPARITIES IN CARE FOR INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCING SICKLE CELL PAIN CRISES. 4)ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM MHQP'S ANNUAL STATEWIDE PATIENT EXPERIENCE SURVEY REVEALED THAT PATIENTS THAT IDENTIFY AS ASIAN REPORTED LOWER SCORES THAN ANY OTHER RACIAL OR ETHNICE GROUP AND WITH FUNDING FROM THE BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MASSACHUSETTS FOUNDATION MHQP IMPLEMENTED A PROJECT TO INTERVIEW MEMBERS OF THE THREE LARGEST ASIAN COMMUNITIES IN MASSACHUSETTS TO INVESTIGATE THE DRIVERS OF THESE DISPARITIES.

STATEWIDE SURVEY OF PATIENTS EXPERIENCES WITH PRIMARY CARE - MHQP ANNUALLY FIELDS THIS SURVEY MEASURING THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE OF PRIMARY CARE FOR COMMERCIALLY INSURED PATIENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS AND PUBLICLY REPORTS THE RESULTS ON MHQP'S WEBSITE, HTTP://WWW.HEALTHCARECOMPASSMA.ORG/. THIS SURVEY IS USED BY MASSACHUSETTS' HEALTH PLANS FOR RISK-BASED CONTRACTING AND IS ALSO USED BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT. AS A MULTI-STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATIVE MHQP REVISES AND UPDATES THIS SURVEY OVER TIME IN CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS. THIS SURVEY CREATES A LEVEL OF TRANSPARENCY IN PRIMARY CARE WHICH HAS MOTIVATED PROVIDERS TO CONTINUALLY IMPROVE THEIR SERVICE TO PATIENTS. AN ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF MHQP'S STATEWIDE PATIENT EXPERIENCE SURVEY FOUND STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE PRIMARY CARE EXPERIENCES REPORTED BY BLACK, HISPANIC AND ASIAN PATIENTS VERSUS WHITE PATIENTS. TO INVESTIGATE AND UNDERSTAND THESE DISPARITIES MHQP HAS LAUNCHED A MEASURED EQUITY, AN INITIATIVE TO CREATE A CONSISTENT AND EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO MEASURING RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN PATIENT EXPERIENCES IN MASSACHUSETTS. THIS WILL ALLOW PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE DRIVERS OF DISPARITIES, MAKE VALID COMPARISONS, AND IDENTIFY APPROACHES TO ADDRESSING THESE DISPARITIES.

DATA GATHERING, AGGREGATION, AND LICENSING - MHQP'S DATA GATHERING, AGGREGATION, AND LICENSING ACTIVITIES PROVIDE VALUE TO HEALTH PLANS AND PROVIDERS, STATE REGULATORY ENTITIES, AND ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS, AS WELL AS FOSTERING DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF HEALTH CARE QUALITY MEASURES IN MASSACHUSETTS. THIS WORK ALSO INCLUDES PUBLIC REPORTING OF MEASURES TO HELP ENSURE TRANSPARENCY IN HEALTHCARE. MHQP GATHERS AND AGGREGATES CLINICAL QUALITY DATA (CQ-HEDIS SCORES) AND OTHER QUALITY PERFORMANCE DATA ACROSS 6 MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH PLANS FOR THE CENTER FOR HEALTH INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS, AND PUBLICLY REPORTS THIS DATA AT THE PRACTICE SITE LEVEL. MHQP ALSO ANNUALLY UPDATES ITS MASSACHUSETTS PROVIDER DIRECTORY (MPD). THE MPD CAPTURES THE STRUCTURE OF AMBULATORY CARE IN MASSACHUSETTS AND PROVIDES A LOCATION-BASED SNAPSHOT OF MASSACHUSETTS PROVIDERS. IT IS THE ONLY VALID DATA SOURCE AVAILABLE THAT MAPS PRIMARY CARE AND SPECIALTY PROVIDERS STATEWIDE TO THE PRACTICE SITE, MEDICAL GROUP AND NETWORK IN WHICH THEY PROVIDE CARE.