MHQP Pleased to Contribute to Senior Medicare Patrol Conference

(May 2025)

MHQP was pleased to make a major contribution to the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program’s 11th statewide conference on May 6, 2025. The theme of this year’s event was “Primary Care at a Crossroads,” one of MHQP’s key areas of focus.

Lucilia Prates-Ramos, SMP’s Statewide Director and the former Chair of MHQP’s Consumer Health Council, who organized and facilitated the event, worked with other Council members to tailor the content of the conference to bring patients’ perspectives and experiences with primary care directly to members of the state’s new Primary Care Task Force.

The mission of the Massachusetts Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) Program is to raise awareness about the importance of engaging older adults, family members, caregivers, and professionals to prevent, detect, and report healthcare errors, fraud and abuse. In keeping with that mission, the conference focused specifically on the vital importance of engaging and including diverse perspectives and amplifying the voices of older consumers to address the primary care challenges in the Commonwealth.

Dr. Julita Mir, MHQP’s Board Chair, delivered the keynote address. Barbra Rabson, MHQP’s President and CEO, led a panel of Primary Care Task Force members discussing the goal of equitable access to primary care. David Seltz, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission and Co-Chair of the Task Force, Dr. Stephen Martin, Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Suzanne Curry, Director of Policy Initiatives at Health Care For All, participated on the panel.

Also in attendance representing MHQP were Natalya Martins, MHQP’s Vice President of Programs, Molly Totman, MHQP’s Senior Director of Quality Initiatives, Pam Ressler, Chair of MHQP’s Consumer Health Council, and Ann Naimie, a member of MHQP’s Consumer Health Council.