The Center for Health Information and Analysis

Health care costs continue to grow – the Health Policy Commission's 2024 Health Care Cost Trends Report details that total annual health care expenditures per Massachusetts resident grew 5.8 percent in 2022, from $9,700 to more than $10,264. Massachusetts had the second-highest insurance premiums in the country, and the number of Massachusetts privately-insured residents who did not get needed health care due to cost increased from 600,000 to 900,000 from 2021 to 2023. Across all categories of care, the dominant factor driving this growth was higher prices, not more care being provided. Responsive to mounting affordability issues and the ongoing impact of the dissolution of Steward Health Care, the HPC has outlined policy recommendations to better protect the health care system, workforce, and patients from predatory actors, strengthen market oversight and transparency, and ensure greater market stability moving forward. 📃Read the 2024 Health Care Cost Trends Report and policy recommendations: https://lnkd.in/eScyUciB 📊Explore the interactive overview and dashboard: https://lnkd.in/eiizAwGw #HealthPolicy #HealthEquity

This week marks 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸. According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, one in 5 adults and one in 6 children/adolescents will experience some form of mental illness each year. As part of CHIA’s mission to promote a more transparent and equitable health care system, we’ve recently published two reports addressing mental health in the Commonwealth: ➜ CHIA's inaugural 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 with key findings around access, finance, utilization, quality, and equity.  https://lnkd.in/ewMW7H8S ➜ Our annual report on 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 that looks at our health care system’s investment in these critical services year over year. https://lnkd.in/gqEXYQiW Learn more about Mental Illness Awareness Week, including information on mental health in the workplace, from the National Alliance of Mental Illness at https://lnkd.in/gbYqyCmw #behavioralhealth #mentalhealth #healthcare #NAMI #mentalhealthweek

Important information from Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP). For additional information on screening and prevention measures, see CHIA's 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 at https://lnkd.in/e7UGMSpR #BreastCancerAwareness #BreastCancer

On Wednesday, October 2, CHIA Executive Director Lauren Peters will be discussing behavioral health spending measures during a webinar hosted by Milbank Memorial Fund and Freedman HealthCare LLC. The event explores a new standardized methodology and code set to measure how much payers spend on behavioral health clinical services, which can be used to improve care, set spending targets, and monitor mental health parity. Register for the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/eRp2pmst   Nearly half of all people living in the United States will have a behavioral health issue, such as depression, anxiety, or opioid addiction, in their lifetime. CHIA research has shown that almost 50% of adults hospitalized in Massachusetts from July 2019 to June 2020 had at least one behavioral health condition.   To review CHIA’s latest research around behavioral health care, check out CHIA's home page for links to the report on primary care and behavioral health care spending in Massachusetts and our new Behavioral Health Dashboard. https://www.chiamass.gov/

Read our latest 𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 newsletter! CHIA’s latest 𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 is now online. Check out our recent reports, how the Massachusetts All-Payer Claims Database (MA APCD) is being used by researchers to improve health care, upcoming events of interest to the health research and policy community and our highlighted career opportunities.  Of particular interest, Dr. Justin M. Broyles of #MassGeneralBrigham and #HarvardMedicalSchool describes how he used CHIA’s MA APCD to study why certain patients are offered one type of breast reconstruction surgery over other types of surgery. See https://lnkd.in/ept3WfNs

CHIA has published its first 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱, which provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of behavioral health care in Massachusetts including baseline metrics for future comparison. Behavioral health includes an array of vital services that can meaningfully shape patient outcomes and encompasses services and treatment for both mental health and substance use disorders (SUD). As demonstrated by metrics from this year’s dashboard, while rates of some behavioral health services and follow up care have increased, difficulties and disparities in accessing care highlight gaps in the Massachusetts behavioral health system. Measuring and tracking indicators of behavioral health care provides an essential fact base that enables data-driven policymaking and delivery system reforms. The dashboard measures the state of behavioral health with 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 in five areas: access, spending, utilization, quality, and equity. An interactive Tableau dashboard is also available and includes additional data stratifications for exploration, such as health insurance status and region. To see more key findings and access the interactive dashboard, databook, and technical appendix, go to   https://lnkd.in/ewMW7H8S #behavioralhealth, #Massachusetts, #healthcareresearch, #healthcare

CHIA published its 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒔 𝑨𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝑺𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 for hospital fiscal year (HFY) 2023. Among other findings, overall acute hospital profitability increased by 6.4 percentage points from HFY 2022, to 2.2 percent. This publication also reports on the profitability, liquidity, and solvency of hospital health systems and their affiliated acute hospitals, as well as the profitability of affiliated physician organizations.  Additionally, this report incorporates results of filings on temporary staffing expenses for HFY 2019-2023 to understand the impact of these expenses on hospitals and their health system.  Go to https://lnkd.in/eVe66W_S to see 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 and a 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 along with an 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 with five-year trend analyses for each acute hospital and its health system in Massachusetts.  #healthcareresearch, #Massachusetts, #healthcare

𝙉𝙚𝙬! Important research about prescription drug use and spending. Check out the latest 𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙋𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙨 from the Health Policy Commission as well as CHIA's #tableau data dashboard and 𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘿𝙧𝙪𝙜 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 interactive information at https://lnkd.in/enC94U4s #healthcare #prescriptions #pharmaceuticals #research #data

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 represented 14.3% of total spending for commercial members in 2022—a slight decline from 2021, according to CHIA’s latest report examining spending on these services in Massachusetts. Primary care and behavioral health are cornerstones of our health care system; these services are known to meaningfully shape patient outcomes and are often associated with lower health care costs and higher quality care. This series is part of CHIA’s efforts to offer policymakers and industry leaders objective data that can be used to track system-wide investments as well as to inform policies and market reforms in these areas. This report focuses on primary care and behavioral health spending for members enrolled in private commercial, Medicaid MCO/ACO-A, and Medicare Advantage plans for calendar years (CY) 2021 and 2022. New analyses in this report include primary care and behavioral health spending metrics by age group, payer, and managing physician group. The report, databook, dataset and technical appendix are published on CHIA’s website at https://lnkd.in/dxfPhkdj.  

The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) released its latest results on select clinical quality performance measures, which show that adult patients reported high satisfaction with their experiences during primary care visits between 2021 and 2022, among other key findings. These results are drawn from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) and the Patient Experience Survey (PES). These performance measures are used to examine health care quality outcomes and patient-reported experiences with primary care visits within the Commonwealth. CHIA produced an interactive dashboard with provider-specific HEDIS and PES results at statewide, parent provider group, and medical group levels, including geographic results for HEDIS measures at the medical group and practice site levels. This publication includes an analysis of select HEDIS measures for reporting years 2020 and 2022 and PES composites for reporting years 2021-2022 within the commercial market. New to this year’s report, statewide PES results stratified by race and ethnicity are available for 2022 performance to examine disparities in patient-reported experiences. See CHIA’s website for more key findings and to see the executive summary, interactive Tableau dashboard, analytic dataset, and technical appendix. https://lnkd.in/e7M9avK2