Our History - Reliable Healthcare Reviews - Mass Health Quality Partners

Welcomed Jane Barrow, as its new President and CEO, bringing more than two decades of healthcare leadership experience and a commitment to strengthening primary care, advancing health equity, and improving patient experience.

Celebrated MHQP’s 30th anniversary with more than 250 healthcare leaders and partners at Boston’s Museum of Science, honoring three decades of collaboration, innovation, and commitment to improving the quality and equity of patient experiences of care across Massachusetts.

Co-authored “Managing and Communicating Diagnostic Uncertainty in Pediatric Emergency Care” with Alexandra Geanacopoulos and Alon Peltz (Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital) and Kelsey Miller and Mark Neuman (Boston Children’s Hospital), examining how emergency medicine physicians manage and communicate diagnostic uncertainty with pediatric patients and families and identifying opportunities for future intervention.

Featured MHQP’s Natalya Martins on GBH’s All Things Considered discussing a research partnership with the Endometriosis Association focused on addressing disparities in endometriosis diagnosis and care for Black women.

Received the inaugural Jenny Siegel Thriving Together Health Equity Champion Award for work in partnership with the American Board of Family Medicine, Boston Medical Center, and Boston Public Health Commission engaging Black patients and primary care teams to better understand and reduce healthcare mistrust.

Celebrated Barbra Rabson's recognition with the Primary Care Community Leadership Award from the Primary Care Collaborative

Played a role in the formation of the state’s Primary Care Task Force

Partnered with Boston Medical Center, Boston Public Health Commission, and American Board of Family Medicine through a PCORI award to help address mistrust in healthcare within the Black community

Inspired an array of high-profile media coverage of the primary care crisis, including an editorial by the Boston Globe Editorial Board

Received a grant from RWJF’s Evidence for Action program, in partnership with the Cambridge Health Alliance Health Equity Research Lab, to advance health equity through social risk adjustment methods

Partnered with the Endometriosis Association through a PCORI award to help advance equity in endometriosis care for Black women

Julita Mir, MD, elected MHQP Board Chair

Launched Measured Equity, an initiative to create a statewide system for measuring racial and ethnic disparities in patient experiences across Massachusetts through MHQP's annual statewide survey

CHIA and MHQP released Massachusetts’ first-ever dashboard of metrics to monitor the health of primary care

Partnered with Massachusetts Sickle Cell Association through a PCORI award to seek new research directions for Sickle Cell Disease pain self-management

Partnered with Massachusetts Association of Health Plans and the Department of Population Medicine at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute to assess disparities in telehealth usage during the pandemic

Selected by Mass. Health Policy Commission to execute a data gathering effort related to urgent care centers and limited service/retail clinics in the state

Conducted interviews with patients and families on behalf of UMass Memorial Healthcare to understand barriers and race/ethnicity disparities in child well-visits

Launched the Pain Inequities Project to help understand and address the issue that Black women are systematically undertreated for pain

Formed MHQP's Health Equity & Anti-Racism Workgroup to identify directions for MHQP to systematically move towards health equity and justice, and to help eradicate inequities in health outcomes and experiences

Presented "Primary Care at a Crossroads" webinar on what's next for primary care in Massachusetts after the National Academy of Medicine report

Partnered with BCBSMA to launch first-in-the-nation survey focused on patient experience with telehealth

Convened Roundtable on the Future of Primary Care panel of experts to identify and help address threats to the sustainability of traditional primary care practices

Launched Together for Better Telehealth initiative to help clinicians share what they are learning from their telehealth experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

MHQP marked its 25th anniversary, but was forced to cancel the celebratory event due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Co-authored study with first-time look at link between patient engagement activities and patient experience utilizing MHQP's unique data sets

Selected by the Center for Information and Analysis (CHIA) to collect, aggregate and report commercial HEDIS measures

Co-authored study on feasibility of quality and cost comparisons across states using local claims data

Convened Affordability Roundtable to explore ways that increasing patient engagement can improve healthcare affordability

Launched first annual MHQP Patient Experience Awards, recognizing 33 high performing primary care practices

Published article in NEJM Catalyst on MHQP/CRICO survey about patient engagement in primary care

Launched new MHQP brand logo and tagline (“Together for Good Measure”)

Selected to lead stakeholder engagement activities in CMS-funded orthopedics measurement development project with Brigham & Women’s Hospital

James Roosevelt, Jr., elected MHQP Board Chair

Completed first MassHealth primary care patient experience survey pilot and drafted surveys for behavioral health and long-term services and supports

Used a human-centered design approach to explore alternative ways to assess and manage pain with opioid prescribing with CIGNA, Mad*Pow and multiple stakeholders

Conducted first-of-its-kind survey of patient engagement activities in Massachusetts primary care practices with CRICO

Selected by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services for Massachusetts to conduct statewide patient experience surveys of people insured through MassHealth

Added significant enhancements for electronic outreach and capture of patient comments to the statewide Patient Experience Survey

Partnered with Consumer Reports again to publish a special report, “Choosing the Right Doctor for You,” focused on quality measures for more than 300 primary care practices

Celebrated MHQP’s 21st anniversary, honoring MHQP’s founding members

Piloted short form and electronic mode of patient experience survey to evaluate the efficacy of new methodological approaches in future iterations of the survey in collaboration with California Healthcare Performance Information System (CHPI)

Provided best practice assistance in improving patient engagement and experience as part of the HHS Support and Alignment Network for Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative

Greater Boston Aligning Forces for Quality’s Healthier Roxbury coalition launched the Roxbury Rising Against Diabetes Season of Health campaign

Reconstituted Board of Directors to include seven stakeholder members with provider, health plan and patient perspectives plus five independent members with industry expertise

Led Practice Pattern Variation Analysis (PPVA) project for providers and payers from across Massachusetts to identify, evaluate and take action on variations in practice patterns

Convened national meeting of patient experience and industry experts to forge a strategic path for patient experience measurement, reporting and improvement

Launched new public-facing website, healthcarecompassma.org, where consumers can compare performance of primary care doctors’ offices

Meredith Rosenthal elected MHQP Board Chair

Awarded two-year grant to steward the dissemination and reach of the ABIM Foundation’s national Choosing Wisely® campaign in Massachusetts

Aligned MHQP's patient experience survey with the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA) survey for Patient Centered Medical Home Recognition Program

Partnered with Consumer Reports on its first-ever ratings of primary care practices, “How Does Your Doctor Compare?” using MHQP’s statewide patient experience survey results

Led the Massachusetts implementation of the Partners in Integrated Care (PIC) initiative, focused on screening tools and early intervention services for behavioral health

Merged with the Partnership for Healthcare Excellence

Convened the Mass. Child Health Care Quality Coalition, the state's first collaborative focused on improving healthcare quality for all children across the continuum of care

Established MHQP Consumer Health Council

Piloted patient-centered medical home survey field test for NCQA and AHRQ

Greater Boston became an official RWJF Aligning Forces for Quality community grantee

Awarded CHIPRA Quality Demonstration Grant with MassHealth, Children’s Hospital and UMass Medical School to improve healthcare quality and delivery systems for children

Collaborated with MassHealth and UMass Medical School to develop Medicaid comparative clinical quality reports for Massachusetts’ primary care practices

MHQP Board approved a Patient and Public Engagement Strategy, recognizing the importance of patients, families and the public as stakeholders in MHQP’s mission

Stanley Hochberg elected MHQP Board Chair

Selected by Massachusetts Health Care Quality and Cost Council to create a plan for publicly reporting quality and cost measures

Awarded RWJF Aligning Forces for Quality planning grant on behalf of Greater Boston health care leaders in partnership with the Eastern Massachusetts Health Care Initiative

Conducted an assessment for the Mass. Medical Society on the feasibility of a Clinical Data Repository to integrate claims and electronic data for quality measurement

Established MHQP Health Plan Council

Developed Massachusetts Provider Database, (MPD), foundational to MHQP's measurement work and an essential research resource for academicians, health plans, government agencies and provider organizations seeking information about providers and their health system relationships

Conducted large scale pilot survey of MassHealth patient experiences in collaboration with the Center for Health Policy and Research at UMass Medical School

Gained agreement on a common dataset and standard reporting format that coordinates hospital quality reporting to health plans

Led design and development of clinical quality measures from electronic health records for the MA eHealth Collaborative (MAeHC) and created quality data warehouse

Awarded grant from the Commonwealth Fund to assess the use of patient experience data to improve health care quality in Massachusetts

Harris Berman elected MHQP Board Chair

Selected by CMS for the Better Quality Information (BQI) pilot program to measure, assess and report on the quality of care that physicians provide to Medicare beneficiaries

Awarded grant from Physicians’ Foundation for Health Systems Excellence to develop innovative approaches for improving quality and patient experience in physician practices

Released results from the first-in-the-nation statewide survey of patients’ experiences with their primary care physicians

With support from RWJF, held first meeting of regional health improvement collaboratives, leading to the formation of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI)

Awarded grant from Commonwealth Fund to support partnership with RAND researchers to gain better understanding of the relationship between efficiency and quality metrics

Helped convene healthcare leaders from around the state in a full-day conference to discuss ways to build consensus around the public release of health quality information

Released statewide Comparative Clinical Quality Reports for physician networks and medical groups comprising nearly 6,000 physicians

Added two consumer representatives to the MHQP Board of Directors

Nancy Turnbull elected MHQP Board Chair

Established MHQP Physician Council

Selected as a RWJF Rewarding Results grantee and awarded a $1 million grant to evaluate the impact of financial and non-financial incentives on physician performance

Awarded grant from the Commonwealth Fund and RWJF to conduct study feasibility of statewide survey of patient experiences with primary care physicians

Issued first statewide Collaborative Adult and Pediatric Preventive Care Recommendations and Immunization Guidelines

Developed Collaborative Pediatric Asthma Action Management Plan for use by physicians, parents and school nurses

MHQP incorporated as a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation and established formal Board of Directors

Held stakeholder conferences with a focus on improvements in hospital maternity care

Barbra Rabson became the Executive Director and was later promoted to President and CEO

Released results of first-in-the-nation statewide survey of patient experiences in hospitals

Established a common data set and standard format for reporting hospital quality to health plans

Gina Rogers became MHQP's founding Executive Director

Joseph Newhouse appointed founding Chair of MHQP

MHQP was established through the leadership of Mass. Hospital Association Board Chairman H. Richard Nesson, MD, and a group of local healthcare leaders (from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mass., Commonwealth of Mass. Executive Office of Admin & Finance, Fallon Community Health Plan, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Mass. Business Roundtable, Mass. Hospital Association, Mass. Medical Society, and Tufts Health Plan)

Improving Massachusetts Healthcare for More than Thirty Years:

2026

Welcomed Jane Barrow, as its new President and CEO, bringing more than two decades of healthcare leadership experience and a commitment to strengthening primary care, advancing health equity, and improving patient experience.

Celebrated MHQP’s 30th anniversary with more than 250 healthcare leaders and partners at Boston’s Museum of Science, honoring three decades of collaboration, innovation, and commitment to improving the quality and equity of patient experiences of care across Massachusetts.

2025

Featured MHQP’s Natalya Martins on GBH’s All Things Considered discussing a research partnership with the Endometriosis Association focused on addressing disparities in endometriosis diagnosis and care for Black women.

Celebrated Barbra Rabson's recognition with the Primary Care Community Leadership Award from the Primary Care Collaborative

2024

Partnered with Boston Medical Center, Boston Public Health Commission, and American Board of Family Medicine through a PCORI award to help address mistrust in healthcare within the Black community

Inspired an array of high-profile media coverage of the primary care crisis, including an editorial by the Boston Globe Editorial Board

Partnered with the Endometriosis Association through a PCORI award to help advance equity in endometriosis care for Black women

Julita Mir, MD, elected MHQP Board Chair

2023

Launched Measured Equity, an initiative to create a statewide system for measuring racial and ethnic disparities in patient experiences across Massachusetts through MHQP's annual statewide survey

2022

Partnered with Massachusetts Association of Health Plans and the Department of Population Medicine at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute to assess disparities in telehealth usage during the pandemic

2021

Selected by Mass. Health Policy Commission to execute a data gathering effort related to urgent care centers and limited service/retail clinics in the state

Launched the Pain Inequities Project to help understand and address the issue that Black women are systematically undertreated for pain

Presented "Primary Care at a Crossroads" webinar on what's next for primary care in Massachusetts after the National Academy of Medicine report

2020

Partnered with BCBSMA to launch first-in-the-nation survey focused on patient experience with telehealth

Convened Roundtable on the Future of Primary Care panel of experts to identify and help address threats to the sustainability of traditional primary care practices

Launched Together for Better Telehealth initiative to help clinicians share what they are learning from their telehealth experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

MHQP marked its 25th anniversary, but was forced to cancel the celebratory event due to the COVID-19 pandemic

2019

Co-authored study with first-time look at link between patient engagement activities and patient experience utilizing MHQP's unique data sets

Selected by the Center for Information and Analysis (CHIA) to collect, aggregate and report commercial HEDIS measures

Co-authored study on feasibility of quality and cost comparisons across states using local claims data

2018

Convened Affordability Roundtable to explore ways that increasing patient engagement can improve healthcare affordability

Launched first annual MHQP Patient Experience Awards, recognizing 33 high performing primary care practices

Published article in NEJM Catalyst on MHQP/CRICO survey about patient engagement in primary care

Selected to lead stakeholder engagement activities in CMS-funded orthopedics measurement development project with Brigham & Women’s Hospital

James Roosevelt, Jr., elected MHQP Board Chair

Completed first MassHealth primary care patient experience survey pilot and drafted surveys for behavioral health and long-term services and supports

2017

Used a human-centered design approach to explore alternative ways to assess and manage pain with opioid prescribing with CIGNA, Mad*Pow and multiple stakeholders

Conducted first-of-its-kind survey of patient engagement activities in Massachusetts primary care practices with CRICO

2016

Added significant enhancements for electronic outreach and capture of patient comments to the statewide Patient Experience Survey

Partnered with Consumer Reports again to publish a special report, “Choosing the Right Doctor for You,” focused on quality measures for more than 300 primary care practices

2015

Piloted short form and electronic mode of patient experience survey to evaluate the efficacy of new methodological approaches in future iterations of the survey in collaboration with California Healthcare Performance Information System (CHPI)

2014

Greater Boston Aligning Forces for Quality’s Healthier Roxbury coalition launched the Roxbury Rising Against Diabetes Season of Health campaign

Reconstituted Board of Directors to include seven stakeholder members with provider, health plan and patient perspectives plus five independent members with industry expertise

Led Practice Pattern Variation Analysis (PPVA) project for providers and payers from across Massachusetts to identify, evaluate and take action on variations in practice patterns

Convened national meeting of patient experience and industry experts to forge a strategic path for patient experience measurement, reporting and improvement

Launched new public-facing website, healthcarecompassma.org, where consumers can compare performance of primary care doctors’ offices

2013

Awarded two-year grant to steward the dissemination and reach of the ABIM Foundation’s national Choosing Wisely® campaign in Massachusetts

2012

Partnered with Consumer Reports on its first-ever ratings of primary care practices, “How Does Your Doctor Compare?” using MHQP’s statewide patient experience survey results

Led the Massachusetts implementation of the Partners in Integrated Care (PIC) initiative, focused on screening tools and early intervention services for behavioral health

2011

Convened the Mass. Child Health Care Quality Coalition, the state's first collaborative focused on improving healthcare quality for all children across the continuum of care

Piloted patient-centered medical home survey field test for NCQA and AHRQ

2010

Greater Boston became an official RWJF Aligning Forces for Quality community grantee

Awarded CHIPRA Quality Demonstration Grant with MassHealth, Children’s Hospital and UMass Medical School to improve healthcare quality and delivery systems for children

2009

Selected by Massachusetts Health Care Quality and Cost Council to create a plan for publicly reporting quality and cost measures

Awarded RWJF Aligning Forces for Quality planning grant on behalf of Greater Boston health care leaders in partnership with the Eastern Massachusetts Health Care Initiative

2008

Developed Massachusetts Provider Database, (MPD), foundational to MHQP's measurement work and an essential research resource for academicians, health plans, government agencies and provider organizations seeking information about providers and their health system relationships

Conducted large scale pilot survey of MassHealth patient experiences in collaboration with the Center for Health Policy and Research at UMass Medical School

2007

Led design and development of clinical quality measures from electronic health records for the MA eHealth Collaborative (MAeHC) and created quality data warehouse

2006

Selected by CMS for the Better Quality Information (BQI) pilot program to measure, assess and report on the quality of care that physicians provide to Medicare beneficiaries

Released results from the first-in-the-nation statewide survey of patients’ experiences with their primary care physicians

2005

2004

2003

2002

Selected as a RWJF Rewarding Results grantee and awarded a $1 million grant to evaluate the impact of financial and non-financial incentives on physician performance

2001

2000

1999

Improving Massachusetts Healthcare
for More than Thirty Years:

Celebrated MHQP’s 30th anniversary with more than 250 healthcare leaders and partners at Boston’s Museum of Science, honoring three decades of collaboration, innovation, and commitment to improving the quality and equity of patient experiences of care across Massachusetts.

Featured MHQP’s Natalya Martins on GBH’s All Things Considered discussing a research partnership with the Endometriosis Association focused on addressing disparities in endometriosis diagnosis and care for Black women.