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The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a harsh spotlight on the racial and ethnic disparities in patient experiences and outcomes that exist in our healthcare system. While researchers have long been aware of health disparities affecting historically underserved communities for many noncommunicable diseases such as breast cancer, diabetes and asthma, the pandemic has brought inequities of all kinds into mainstream consciousness.
MHQP is uniquely positioned to help advance all aspects of the health equity agenda through shared measurement and collective action. While we understand that this issue is deeply-rooted in longstanding and systemic biases, we are determined to systematically move towards health equity and justice, and to eradicate inequities in health outcomes and experiences, so that all patients have an equal opportunity to be as healthy as possible.
Here is a list of the posts on this site related to MHQP’s health equity activities:
MHQP Receives Second PCORI Award to Help Improve Care for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease
(May 2023)
In the summer of 2022, MHQP partnered with the Massachusetts Sickle Cell Association (MSCA) to lead a set of convenings to explore new directions for research into patient-centered approaches to help people with sickle cell disease (SCD) self-manage their pain. This effort was made possible through an award from
2023 MHQP Clinical Guidelines Highlight the Impact of Systemic Racism on Health Outcomes
“Patients may be more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if they are Black, Alaska Native, American Indian, Asian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or Hispanic/Latino.”
This was one of the “Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes” identified in the Diabetes section of last year’s version of MHQP’s Clinical Guidelines. MHQP revises
MHQP Receives BCBSMA Foundation Grant to Explore Asian Patient Experiences
(March 2023)
Through a Special Initiatives grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation (BCBSMAF), MHQP has launched a new project designed to help better understand why Asian patients report worse experiences with primary care than other racial populations. A deeper understanding requires a more nuanced consideration of the
Black, Hispanic and Asian Patients Report Worse Patient Experiences than White Patients in Massachusetts
MHQP Convening Stakeholders to Explore Drivers of These Disparities and How to Reduce Them
(February 2023)
Black, Asian and Hispanic patients report worse experiences than White, non-Hispanic patients in Massachusetts. This is the key finding of an analysis of data collected in MHQP’s annual statewide Patient Experience Survey of commercially-insured patients,
MHQP Welcomes Partners on Statewide Initiative to Measure Disparities in Patient Experience
(November 2022)
MHQP is excited to launch an initiative to measure racial and ethnic disparities in patient experiences across Massachusetts by utilizing the same instrument and methodology we have used to measure patient experience in the state since 2006.
Our aim is to broker consistency in health equity measurement throughout the state
Study Finds Disparities in Telehealth Usage Since the Onset of the Pandemic
(November 2022)
The Department of Population Medicine at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, has released the results of a research study on telehealth use in the Commonwealth since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. MHQP supported the effort by collecting and analyzing qualitative interview data
Stepping Out of Silos to Tackle Disparities
(September 2022)
Nearly 30 years ago, a Boston Globe Spotlight article highlighted “the worst hospitals” in Massachusetts based on high mortality rates. In the wake of that article, well before the measurement of healthcare quality was widely practiced and accepted, a forward-thinking group of healthcare, business and community leaders
Employee Spotlight: Natalya Martins
(August 2022)
Natalya Martins, MPH, has a placard with a quote from Indigenous Australian and activist Lilla Wilson hanging in her office:
“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work
MHQP Launches Initiative to Create Statewide System for Measuring Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Patient Experience
(August 2022)
MHQP has launched a major initiative to create a consistent and effective approach to measuring racial and ethnic disparities in patient experiences in Massachusetts. We are currently seeking to recruit provider organizations and health plans to participate in a statewide effort to address this critical issue.
Our aim is to
MHQP and GBSCDA Seek New Research Directions for Sickle Cell Disease Pain Self-Management
(August 2022)
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an illness that predominantly affects people of color and is characterized by debilitating pain. As with other chronic diseases, self-care is a key strategy for people with SCD to manage the disease and avoid or mitigate pain episodes. Yet, to date, there has