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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
The Link Between Patient Experience and Affordability: The Potential Power of Patients
By Barbra G. Rabson
(May 2019)
I’ve spent the last two decades of my career dedicated to measuring and improving patient experience and patient engagement and have always believed that listening to patients about their experiences can be our best path to improving our healthcare system. Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to see
MHQP’s Courtemanche Co-Authors Study on Feasibility of Quality and Cost Comparisons Across States Using Local Claims Data
(May 2019)
Jim Courtemanche, MHQP’s Vice President of Programs and Analytics, has co-authored an important article featured in The American Journal of Managed Care in May 2019. The manuscript, Producing Comparable Cost and Quality Results from All-Payers Claims Databases, was developed in collaboration with the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), the Center
MHQP Adds New Voices to Physician Council
(May 2019)
MHQP is pleased to welcome representatives from four extraordinary organizations as new members of its Physician Council: Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), Community Care Cooperative (C3), Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Acton Medical Associates (AMA). Each of these organizations adds an important and unique perspective to MHQP:
- Cambridge Health Alliance is an academic community health system with three hospitals and an extensive primary care network
MHQP Releases Results of Only Statewide Survey of Patient Experiences in Primary Care
(January, 2019)
For the 14th year, MHQP has released the results of its annual survey assessing patient experiences in primary care. This is the only publicly-reported statewide survey of patient experiences in Massachusetts.
The results of the survey are posted on www.HealthcareCompassMA.org, MHQP’s consumer-facing website. One of the “best-kept secrets” in Massachusetts healthcare, this site provides detailed patient experience results
What Does It Take to Deliver Exceptional Patient Experience in Primary Care?
(January 2019)
Is there a “secret sauce” behind exceptional patient experiences in primary care?
We spoke with the leaders of some of the 33 adult and pediatric practices that were recognized in 2018 as winners of the first annual MHQP Patient Experience Awards to understand what they do to deserve such high praise from their patients.
Jump to:
Newton Wellesley Primary Care
Boston Globe Front Page Article Features MHQP’s Work Surveying Medicaid Patients
(January 2019)
MHQP is pleased to share an article by Liz Kowalczyk from the front page of the Boston Globe on January 15, 2019.
Having collected and published information on the experience of commercially-insured patients in Massachusetts for more than a decade, MHQP has been working
MHQP Convenes Expert Panel to Tackle Patient Barriers to Healthcare Affordability
(December 2018)
“We have created barriers that routinely prevent patients from engaging with our healthcare system in a way that enables them to obtain high value, affordable care.”
This is how MHQP President and CEO characterized the nature of the problem at the start of MHQP’s Patient Engagement Roundtable Discussion on Affordability in December 2018.
MHQP Announces Winners of New Patient Experience Awards
(November 2018)
MHQP has announced the winners of its first annual “MHQP Patient Experience Awards.” MHQP introduced this award program this 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
MHQP Convenes Patient Engagement Roundtable to Accelerate Healthcare Affordability
(November 2018)
On December 5, MHQP will convene a Patient Engagement Roundtable Discussion on Affordability designed to identify strategies for impacting healthcare affordability through patient activation and engagement.
This effort is made possible by a small grant from the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), which is seeding opportunities to increase health, reduce price
Leadership Transition Planned for MHQP’s Consumer Health Council
(November 2018)
MHQP is pleased to announce that Lucilia Prates has been selected to be the new Chair of MHQP’s Consumer Health Council (CHC). Ms. Prates will be following in the footsteps of Rosalind Joffe, who has been leading the Council since its inception in 2011. Ms. Joffe will remain active on the CHC, but will no longer serve as
What Does It Take to Increase Patient Engagement in Primary Care Settings?
(October 2018)
MHQP president and CEO Barbra Rabson has teamed up with CRICO Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Luke Sato, MD, on an important article published this week in the NEJM Catalyst.
The article is built on the findings of a first-of-its-kind survey of 412 Massachusetts
MHQP to Play Key Role in CMS-Funded Orthopedics Measurement Development Project
(September 2018)
MHQP is pleased to announce that we will be partnering with principal investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in a cooperative agreement funded through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and authorized under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) to develop clinical quality measures related to orthopedic surgery.
MHQP’s role in the three-year
MHQP Featured in Article About Pioneering Efforts to Measure Experience for Medicaid Members
(September 2018)
MHQP is very excited to share an article published on the USC Annenberg’s Center for Health Journalism (CHJ) website by prominent local reporter Martha Bebinger.
The article focuses on the Commonwealth’s breakthrough efforts to add the voice of MassHealth members to publicly-reported ratings of patient experiences in Massachusetts. MHQP was
MHQP and Mad*Pow present initial results of pain assessment project
(December 2017)
In a webinar on November 28, 2017, MHQP and its partners at Mad*Pow’s Center for Health Experience Design shared their progress to date on our co-design approach to improve pain assessment and better calibrate pain assessment with opioid prescribing.
“In the many conversations I’ve had with all kinds of people in this project, I’ve not met a single person
Strategies to Enhance Patient Engagement in Primary Care
(November 2017)
Patient engagement has emerged as an essential element of effective care. Health care leaders around the country have begun to recognize that engaging patients through collaborative, personalized care is key to reducing costs and improving outcomes.
MHQP is in a unique position to learn about structural programs and innovative practices that help empower patients to be active in their
MHQP Welcomes James Roosevelt, Jr., as New Board Chair
(December 2017)
MHQP is delighted to announce that the MHQP Board of Directors has elected James Roosevelt, Jr., as its new Chair. Mr. Roosevelt succeeds Meredith Rosenthal, who served as Board Chair for five years and will be stepping down from this role on the Board.
“I am extremely grateful for Meredith’s