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MHQP Releases Updated Clinical Guidelines with Renewed Focus on Health Equity
(February 2022)
MHQP has released its updated Clinical Guidelines for 2022. This year, the Guidelines are once again highlighting opportunities for clinicians to reduce inequities in care by improving screening for high-risk populations.
At a time when the pandemic has caused a sharp decrease in routine cancer screenings, and policies that aim to ensure equitable access to appropriate care
Backlash Must Fuel Renewed Commitment to Health Equity
By Barbra G. Rabson
(February 2022)
Since the summer of 2020, when the murder of George Floyd and the COVID pandemic spawned a reawakening about racial injustice in this country, I have been impressed and proud of the commitment to health equity at so many levels in the Massachusetts healthcare system. Company CEOs,
MHQP Announces Winners of 2021 Patient Experience Awards
(January 2022)
MHQP has announced the winners of the 2021 “MHQP Patient Experience Awards.” MHQP introduced this award program in 2018 as a way to recognize the primary care practices that perform highest on its annual Commercial Patient Experience Survey, the only statewide survey of patient experience in primary care in Massachusetts.
The
We Need Better Data to Tackle Health Disparities, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation Study Finds
~MHQP Serves as Critical Source of Information for this Important Report~
(January 2022)
To truly advance its equity goals, Massachusetts must take a leadership role in collecting and analyzing racial and ethnic health disparities, a new Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) report suggests. The report underlines how Massachusetts must improve data collection and reporting requirements across health agencies to ensure
MHQP Using Artificial Intelligence to Make Patient Comments More Actionable
(December 2021)
Patient narratives – hearing feedback directly from patients in their own words – is perhaps the most powerful tool for healthcare practices to improve patient experiences. Qualitative feedback can provide personal insights and perspectives that no quantitative data can offer.
Recognizing this fact, MHQP took action a few years ago to
Patients Really Like Telehealth. Let’s Resolve to Make It Work.
By Barbra G. Rabson
(January 2022)
At the beginning of the pandemic, I penned a post I called “Now Is the Time to Get Telehealth Right” in which I suggested that something good might emerge from what I called our “grand telehealth experiment.” Well, my friends, the pandemic may not be over
It’s Time We Started Collecting Data on People with Disabilities
By Barbra G. Rabson
(December 2021)
As a measurement organization, MHQP has a long track record for reporting comparative performance information to drive improvements in Massachusetts healthcare. We are now focused on reporting performance on health equity and are working to generate the data to enable us to do so. MHQP and our
MHQP Adds New Board Members, New Perspectives
(December 2021)
MHQP is pleased to welcome two new members to its Board of Directors. Jim Huffman, Head of Benefits at Fidelity, and Ben Kruskal, Senior Medical Director at Wellforce Clinically Integrated Network (formerly the New England Quality Care Alliance, or NEQCA), were both confirmed by the Board at its October meeting. Mr. Huffman will be filling the “employer seat”
MHQP Receives PCORI Award to Help Improve Pain Self-Management for People with Sickle Cell Disease
(November 2021)
MHQP is pleased to announce that, in partnership with the Greater Boston Sickle Cell Disease Association (GBSCDA), we have received an award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute’s (PCORI) Eugene Washington Engagement Awards program to identify new directions for research into patient-centered approaches to help people with sickle cell
MHQP Pays Tribute to Harris Berman, MD, Former MHQP Board Chair
(November 2021)
We at MHQP are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Harris Berman, MD. Harris was an important leader in the early years of MHQP, serving as MHQP’s Board Chair when he was Dean of Public Health at the Tufts University School of Medicine.
“Harris was extremely committed to MHQP’s
Are Severe Staffing Shortages the “Long COVID” for the Healthcare System?
By Barbra G. Rabson
(October 2021)
COVID-19 has disrupted our healthcare system in unimaginable and incalculable ways. While we hope that we may soon emerge from the intense burden created by the crisis, the long-lasting impacts of the pandemic are just beginning to come into focus. One of these long-lasting impacts – an
MHQP Pays Tribute to Bill Rogers, Statistician Extraordinaire
(October 2021)
We are deeply saddened to report that MHQP lost an important partner and friend last week. William Rogers, PhD, known to us as Bill, passed away unexpectedly on September 26 from a heart attack. Our sincere condolences go out to Bill’s family and everyone else whose life he touched.
You can
How Patients and Clinicians Really Feel About Telehealth One Year Later
Telehealth has tremendous potential to improve patient care, but we still have much to learn. The pandemic forced us into a massive experiment. So, what have we learned about telehealth over the past crazy, challenging, disorienting, disruptive year?
MHQP has dedicated itself to this help answer this question. First, we launched “
MHQP Thanks 25th Anniversary Sponsors, Looks Ahead to 30th
After much consideration and with extreme gratitude to our generous sponsors listed below, MHQP has decided to cancel our 25th anniversary celebration originally scheduled for April 2020 due to the pandemic. We were hoping we could gather with our sponsors, colleagues and friends to mark this important milestone on our journey, but
The Value of Primary Care: How Come They See It and We Don’t?
By Barbra G. Rabson
(July 2021)
In May, the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) issued an important new report called Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care. It received very little attention.
This was extremely worrisome for us at MHQP because, as an organization that has been measuring
MHQP Offers Important Webinar: Primary Care at a Critical Crossroads
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many primary care practices found themselves struggling to survive amid substantial uncertainty. Yet, last month, when the National Academy of Medicine issued its new report, Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care, it received very little attention.
On June 29, 2021, MHQP hosted
Nationwide Telehealth Impact Survey Supported by MHQP Finds High Level of Patient Satisfaction for Telehealth
(April 2021)
Nationwide Survey Finds ‘High Levels of Satisfaction and Expectations for Future Use’
The COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition – comprising more than 1,000 healthcare organizations, technology firms, and nonprofits, including MHQP – has published the Telehealth Impact Patient Survey.
Overall patients reported positive experiences with telehealth visits with 79% of respondents being satisfied with their telehealth visit and 73% expecting to
MHQP Launches The Pain Inequities Project, Seeks New Funding
(March 2021)
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the devastating inequities embedded in America’s healthcare system and highlighted the need to address the biases underlying deeply rooted and systemic health disparities in our country.
One area where these biases are quite apparent is pain management. Research has shown that Black Americans are systematically undertreated
Primary Care’s Value Proposition and the Damage Done by the Pandemic
By Barbra G. Rabson
(April 2021)
MHQP has been measuring and publicly reporting about quality and patient experiences in primary care for nearly two decades. Never before have I known a moment such as this when I worry for the future of primary care in our state.
MHQP first began to investigate the health
A Vision for the Future of Primary Care
(January 2021)
Primary care is at a crossroads. In the fall of 2019, after Governor Baker proposed an unprecedented increase of investment in primary care and behavioral health in Massachusetts, MHQP convened a panel of experts and stakeholders focused on addressing threats to the sustainability of traditional primary care practices.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and many primary care practices found
MHQP Selected for Strategic Consulting Project by CCT
(January 2021)
MHQP is pleased to announce that Community Consulting Teams of Boston (CCT) is partnering with MHQP on a new strategic project. Operating since 1990, CCT amplifies the impact of Boston-area nonprofits through pro bono management consulting projects performed by teams of experienced MBAs from top-tier business schools.
Identified and endorsed by
MHQP Welcomes New Board and Council Members
(January 2021)
MHQP’s unique position as a coalition of multiple stakeholder groups is reflected in our unique governance and guidance structure. Our Board of Directors is composed of two representatives from each of our key stakeholder groups (providers, health plans and patients), as well as five independent members who offer industry expertise. The Board is then guided by three councils
Health Equity Lens Brings New Focus to MHQP’s Clinical Guidelines
(January 2021)
Two decades ago, in 2001, MHQP issued the first statewide Adult and Pediatric Preventive Care 
Recommendations and Immunization Guidelines in Massachusetts. At that time, providers were receiving a different set of clinical guidelines from each of the health plans they worked with. Recognizing this situation as both confusing and wasteful,
Barbra Rabson Shares Telehealth Insights on Massachusetts Health Policy Forum
On December 3rd, MHQP President and CEO Barbra Rabson contribute
d her knowledge and insights about provider and patient telehealth experiences to a Massachusetts Health Policy Commission forum entitled “Telehealth in a Post Pandemic World.”
The Massachusetts Health Policy Forum at Brandeis University is an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving health and
MHQP Helps COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition Survey Physicians on Telehealth Impact During COVID-19
(November 2020)
Nationwide Survey Finds Overall Satisfaction but Obstacles Remain
The COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition – comprising more than 1,000 healthcare organizations, technology firms, and nonprofits, including MHQP – has published the Telehealth Impact Physician Survey.
More than 75% of respondents said telehealth enabled them to provide quality care for COVID-19-related care, acute care, chronic disease management, hospital/emergency department follow-up, care coordination,