MHQP Announces New State Contract to Assess Patient Experience among Medicaid Recipients

(August 2017)

Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP) is pleased to announce that it has been selected by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as its vendor to conduct statewide patient experience surveys of people insured through the state’s Medicaid program, MassHealth, and participating in the new Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and Community Partners (CP) programs.  The contract spans three years and will focus on three areas in which MassHealth members commonly receive care and services: Primary Care, Behavioral Health, and Long-Term Services and Supports.

By including patient experience as a measure of performance, the state will be able to assess shifts in patient experience as it begins to restructure the MassHealth program to integrated, outcomes-based care.

MHQP already conducts the only statewide patient experience survey in the primary care setting for Massachusetts patients who are insured through employer-funded commercial insurers, which represents approximately 50% of the population in Massachusetts. This new contract means MHQP will be able to provide a more complete picture of patient experience for providers in the state.  Over 25% of the population in Massachusetts is insured through MassHealth, bringing MHQP’s survey coverage to approximately 70% of the state’s population.  It will also enable state agencies to empirically compare the experiences of these two core segments of the healthcare market.

Data will be captured about patients’ experiences with their primary care providers at the medical group level, so medical practices will be able to compare their performance with others in their area.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to support the work of EOHHS on this important initiative,” said MHQP’s President and CEO Barbra Rabson.  “Most importantly, we are honored to be adding the voice of MassHealth patients to our ongoing efforts to measure and report patient experiences of care in Massachusetts.”

“The success of the new ACO and CP programs relies upon our members receiving quality, coordinated care,” said Ipek Demirsoy, Chief of Payment and Care Delivery Innovation, MassHealth. “Our contract with MHQP will allow us to measure the quality performance of our ACOs and CPs. We are excited to partner with them to achieve this central goal.”

The contract calls for MHQP to measure patient experience in Primary Care in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and with Behavioral Health and Long-Term Support and Services in 2018 and 2019.

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