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The COVID-19 pandemic shined a harsh spotlight on the racial and ethnic disparities 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 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 help eradicate inequities in patient experiences and outcomes, 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:
Black, Hispanic and Asian Patients Report Worse Patient Experiences than White Patients in Massachusetts
(February 2023)
MHQP Convening Stakeholders to Explore Drivers of These Disparities and How to Reduce Them
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
Tackling Inequities in Pain Assessment and Management
(August 2022)
Historically marginalized communities are systematically undertreated for pain, and this issue disproportionately impacts Black women. While this fact is well established by research (1), we know very little about the specific barriers that Black women experience when they seek pain care.
To help identify opportunities to close this research gap
It’s Time to Better Understand and Address Disparities in Patient Experiences
By Barbra G. Rabson
(July 2022)
The pandemic has shown us that we are not doing enough to equally promote health for people of all races and ethnicities. Given that there are well-known and researched disparities across all aspects of care, it may not surprise you to learn that Black, Hispanic and Asian
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,
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
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
The Pain Inequities Project
(2021)
Overview:
This important initiative is investigating the disparities that Black women experience when they seek diagnosis and management of chronic pain, and based on these findings, will begin to identify strategies to address these important issues. In the first phase of our work, MHQP conducted open-ended interviews with adult patients who have experienced chronic (> 6 months) pain and
Supporting UMass Memorial’s Efforts to Reduce Race/Ethnicity Disparities in Child Well-Visits
(2021)
Overview:
MHQP was contracted by UMass Memorial Healthcare to conduct interviews with patients and their families in both English and Spanish to better understand barriers and race/ethnicity disparities associated with child well-visits in its network. The findings from these interviews, summarized in MHQP’s report, will be used to inform performance improvement initiatives as part of a network-wide quality improvement
Advancing Understanding of Telehealth Inequities Through HPHCI’s WIFI Study
(2021 - 2022)
Overview:
As part of a study conducted in partnership with the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute (HPHCI), MHQP interviewed patients, providers and community leaders to better understand potential socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic inequities in telehealth usage in Massachusetts since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews explored topics such as insurance coverage of telehealth, access to telehealth, and
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 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
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,