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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,
From Pandemic Fix to Permanent Fixture: How to Ensure Telehealth Lives Up to Its Full Potential
By Barbra G. Rabson
(November 2020)
Telehealth utilization quickly soared in Massachusetts in the early days of the pandemic, not just because
it filled an obvious need as a way for providers and patients to connect when face-to-face interactions were not possible, but also because Governor Baker issued an order requiring insurers to
MHQP Releases Results of “Together for Better Telehealth” Surveys
(November 2020)
Several months ago, as the COVID pandemic began to take hold and most interactions between providers and patients moved to computer screens and telephones, MHQP launched an initiative we call “Together for Better Telehealth.” It’s an effort to help clinicians share what they are learning from their telehealth experiences to
Meeting the Moment in Telehealth
By Barbra G. Rabson
(August 2020)
When asked what they have learned about themselves as a clinician using telehealth in a recent
MHQP survey, one physician responded, “We are an incredibly versatile lot. Our commitment to lifelong learning and constant change in our profession has trained us well for meeting this moment successfully.”
“Meeting
MHQP’s Rabson Advises CMS Administrator on Telehealth
(August 10, 2020)
With our swift shift to virtual platforms when the COVID-19 pandemic hit home, Massachusetts has become tops among all states in telehealth use, according to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Seema Verma. Ms. Verma wanted to learn the lessons from the Commonwealth’s largely successful rapid shift to virtual care. So last
Barbra Rabson Featured in Boston Globe Front Page Article on Telehealth
(June 15, 2020)
We are thrilled to have Barbra Rabson quoted as the lead interview for a Boston Globe front page article about telehealth entitled “Forced by the Pandemic, Health Care Plunges into the Digital Age.”
“Even as other aspects of life went digital, ‘the health care system lagged behind for years
MHQP Reengages with Clinical Quality Data, Releases HEDIS Results
(June 11, 2020)
MHQP is pleased to announce its publication of clinical quality performance results for primary care practices across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, representing care provided to commercially-insured patients in 2018 and based on HEDIS® data aggregated across five Massachusetts health plans.
HEDIS (the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set) is a rich data source essential to monitoring the performance
Podcast: How A Pandemic Is Changing Healthcare
(June 9, 2020)
Our current global pandemic has necessitated a rapid adoption of different ways to deliver healthcare 
and the challenge of building resilience and sustainability in these new models. One of the areas that has been fast-tracked is telehealth or virtual visits with healthcare providers. In-person office visits ceased, elective procedures
Listen Up, America. Now is the Time to Address Racism in our Healthcare System
by Brittney Gedeon, Rising Junior and Presidential Scholar at Boston College and MHQP Summer Intern
(June 8, 2020)
The senseless death of George Floyd at the hands of four police officers in Minneapolis has shocked and outraged millions of people throughout the country. As a nation, we should condemn the racial injustices we see in policing and
MHQP Statement in Support of Protests
(June 8, 2020)
Dear Friends,
We at MHQP would like to add our voices to the resounding chorus of supportive messages in solidarity with the peaceful protesters seeking lasting change against longstanding systemic racism in the United States. We hear you. We see you. We support you.
Now is a time to listen to the voices of our fellow Americans whose cries
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
Now Is the Time to Get Telehealth Right
By Barbra G. Rabson
(April 2020)
Amid all the horror and hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic, maybe something good will emerge on the other side of it for the healthcare system. Now is our chance to finally get telehealth right.
Before the pandemic struck, MHQP was working with a distinguished panel of experts to
MHQP Cancels 2020 Patient Experience Survey Due to Impact of Pandemic
(April 2020)
MHQP will not be fielding our annual survey assessing patient experiences in primary care this spring because of the COVID-19 outbreak. This was a difficult decision to make but one that we feel is right, given the current stress on our healthcare system. We are optimistic that we will resume fielding the survey again next year.
MHQP’s survey
Massachusetts Primary Care Providers Are Investing More Time with Patients on Behavioral Health Concerns
(January, 2020)
Results of MHQP’s Annual Statewide Patient Experience Survey Inform the Debate Over the Governor’s Proposal to Increase Spending in Primary Care and Behavioral Health.
Against the backdrop of a proposal from Governor Baker to increase the state’s investment in primary care and behavioral health services, MHQP has released the results of its annual survey assessing patient experiences in primary
MHQP Announces Winners of 2019 Patient Experience Awards
(December 2019)
MHQP has announced the winners of the 2019 “MHQP Patient Experience Awards.” MHQP introduced this award program last year as a way to recognize the primary care practices that perform highest on its annual Patient Experience Survey, the only statewide survey of patient experience in primary care in Massachusetts.
MHQP received
MHQP Introduces New Resource to Help Empowered Patients
(November 2019)
Healthcare leaders around the country recognize that engaging patients through collaborative and personalized care is a key to reducing costs and improving outcomes.
To advance this cause, Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP), with the help of its Consumer Health Council (CHC), has created a new section on the MHQP website dedicated to
The Future of Primary Care in Massachusetts
By Barbra G. Rabson
(October 2019)
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of primary care in Massachusetts. I was inspired in part by work we’ve been doing at MHQP to explore barriers to affordability through the patient’s eyes, and lack of access to primary care was one of those
MHQP Working with CHIA to Collect, Aggregate and Report HEDIS Data
(October 2019)
MHQP is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract from the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) to collect, aggregate and report Commercial Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures.
The contract calls for MHQP to:
- Identify a subset of commercial HEDIS measures for reporting
- Collaborate with health plans in the Commonwealth to collect source data
- Aggregate
MHQP’s Unique Data Sets Enable First-Time Look at Link Between Patient Engagement Activities and Patient Experience
(August 2019)
“To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to examine the relationship between patient engagement activities and patients’ reported experience of care,” say the authors of Patient Engagement Activities and Patient Experience: Are Patients With a History of Depression the Canary in the Coal Mine?, an article
Massachusetts Community Health Centers Excelling at Patient Experience
(May 2019)
Earlier this year, MHQP introduced the “MHQP Patient Experience Awards,” which recognized the 33 primary care practices throughout Massachusetts that performed highest on our annual statewide Patient Experience Survey. The winning practices are extremely diverse in size, structure and location, proving that patients can have great experiences in many different