Other Topics
Get the Latest News and Insights From MHQP
Sign up for our emails for access to our initiative announcements, insights, and informative data.
Primary care is at a crossroads. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many primary care practices found themselves struggling to survive amid substantial uncertainty. While the pandemic created many challenges for the healthcare system, it also established a unique opportunity and an even greater urgency for payment and care delivery redesign changes that lead to a sustainable and equitable primary care system. Achieving real, sustainable change for primary care in the post-pandemic world will require innovative thinking and clear-headed vision.
MHQP has always had an interest in a thriving primary care system that serves as an effective and efficient front door to the healthcare system, and we have rededicated ourselves to this effort during this challenging year. When MHQP’s Board of Directors met in June 2020 to discuss the organization’s strategic direction, the Board overwhelmingly endorsed making the strengthening of primary care one of MHQP’s strategic imperatives.
MHQP is uniquely positioned to help advance the future of primary care. As a neutral coalition of stakeholder groups, MHQP can bring providers, health plans and patients together to solve challenging problems such as this that none can solve alone. While we understand this issue is deeply-rooted in longstanding traditions, patterns and policies, we are determined to do what we can to preserve the future of primary care.
Here is a list of the posts on this site related to MHQP’s activities on the future of primary care:
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
MHQP to Produce State’s First-Ever Primary Care Dashboard for CHIA
(September 2022)
MHQP is pleased to announce that we have been selected by the state’s Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) to produce Massachusetts’ first-ever dashboard of metrics to monitor the health of primary care in the state.
Leaders in both the healthcare and policymaking arenas have become increasingly concerned about
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
Despite Expected Setbacks from the Pandemic, Massachusetts Primary Care Practices Still Improved Patient Experiences in 2021
(March 2022) MHQP’s Statewide Patient Experience Survey Shows Unsurprising Losses Paired with Impressive Gains During the Pandemic
Despite the enormous challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts primary care practices were able to collectively improve experiences for their patients on several key metrics in 2021 as compared to 2019, based on the results
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
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
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