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Healthcare quality is not only about how expertly doctors treat injuries and manage illnesses. It also is about the personal experiences of patients, beginning with the first phone call to make an appointment and everything that follows.
Measuring and reporting on patient experience has been MHQP’s core work for most of our history. Our signature program is the only statewide patient experience survey of primary care patients in Massachusetts, which asks patients about their experiences with their own doctor or their child’s doctor, as well as other staff in those doctors’ offices, across nine performance categories. In 2019, we also added to our portfolio a patient experience survey of Medicaid recipients in partnership with MassHealth.
Here is a list of the posts on this site related to MHQP’s patient experience activities:
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
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 Confirms Significant Drop-Off in Key Preventive Care Measures During the Pandemic
(May 2022) Alarming declines in cancer screening procedures, routine tests for patients with diabetes, and childhood immunizations recorded
Data released today by MHQP confirm what many providers and policymakers feared – that preventive care declined during the pandemic, especially for procedures that required patients to visit a clinical setting in person.
Community-Wide Care Coordination Program Better Supports Kids with Behavioral Health Needs
(March 2022) MHQP Patient Experience Award Winner, MACONY Pediatrics, Leads the Effort.
It started back in 2015, well before anyone at MACONY Pediatrics had ever heard of the MHQP Patient Experience Awards. Healthcare and social service providers in and around Great Barrington, Massachusetts, were seeing a steady rise in behavioral health issues among
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
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
Statewide Patient Experience Survey (PES)
(2006 - Present)
For more than a decade, MHQP has helped healthcare provider groups in Massachusetts hear from patients through one of our most powerful tools, the Statewide Patient Experience Survey (PES). This time-tested and valued instrument captures feedback from a large sample of adult and pediatric patients across the state. MHQP has been a leader in measuring patients’ experiences
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
What We Are Learning About Patient and Provider Experiences with Telehealth
By Barbra G. Rabson
(May 2020)
I have been amazed and inspired to see healthcare respond to the daily challenges presented 
by the COVID-19 pandemic. Crises have a way of opening new opportunities and presenting innovative solutions which were barely conceivable before. So I believe it is with telehealth.
As I wrote in a