Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP)

Thank you Katherine Gergen Barnett, MD for highlighting this important and alarming report from The Commonwealth Fund. #Primarycare is the foundation of our healthcare system, yet we have grossly underinvested in it, and now we're seeing and feeling the impact of that neglect.

MHQP is grateful for the wisdom and life experiences Denice Garrett has brought to our Consumer Health Council and Board of Directors for the past 10 years. As the Billing and Data Coordinator for Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) for 30 years, Denice is on the front line of patient engagement, helping to ensure insurance plans are correctly billed for services rendered. Denice received her Bachelor of Arts at UMass Boston and has a certification from Suffolk University in Human Service Administration. She is also certified as a family planning counselor. We can always count on Denice to represent the patient’s perspective and to speak up for the needs of underserved populations. We are honored to have her on our Board of Directors.

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, let’s look at disparities in breast cancer screening rates in Massachusetts. Rates for Black non-Hispanic and Hispanic patients were 6.7 and 5.1 percentage points lower than for White non-Hispanic patients in 2022. These disparities are especially concerning when we consider that: ✓ Breast cancer is more common in Black women under age 50 compared to Black women over age 50 and women of other racial and ethnic groups under age 50 (Rebner & Pai, 2020). ✓ Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer at any age compared to women of any other race/ethnicity (American Cancer Society, 2022). ✓ Black patients are diagnosed at younger ages and with more aggressive breast cancer forms compared to women of other racial and ethnic groups (American Cancer Society, 2022; Rebner & Pai, 2020). Differences in breast cancer prevalence by race are likely due to complex interactions of social determinants of health, including access to affordable and equitable medical care. We must address these disparities! #BreastCancerAwareness #BreastCancer #KnowYourRisk #EarlyDetectionSavesLives

It is a pleasure and a privilege to work with Lois, and we are all grateful for her insights and guidance. We are very lucky to have her as a Board member.

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, let’s look at breast cancer screening rates in Massachusetts… Every two years, in partnership with the The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA), MHQP collects clinical quality performance data from the state’s health plans for commercially insured patients in primary care practices across the state. We then aggregate these data and report the results. Breast cancer screening rates declined in 2020 vs. 2018. This was typical for procedures that required patients to visit a clinical setting in person during the pandemic. Rates rebounded in 2022 but were still below pre-pandemic levels. Massachusetts ranks second among all states on this measure, according to the NIH. #BreastCancerAwareness #BreastCancer #KnowYourRisk #EarlyDetectionSavesLives

MHQP is pleased to have had Lois Cornell as a member of our Board of Directors since 2016. As the Executive Vice President of the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), Lois is responsible for the operation and management of the Society and its operating divisions. Representing 25,000 physicians and students, the Society is committed to educating and advocating for patients and physicians in the Commonwealth. It also extends its mission globally by advancing medical knowledge from research to patient care through the New England Journal of Medicine. Before joining the Society, Lois spent 24 years at Tufts Health Plan as Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel. Prior to joining Tufts Health Plan, she was an Associate at the Boston law firm of Goodwin Procter. Under her leadership, the Society has been consistently recognized for its exceptional workplace culture, earning spots on the Boston Globe’s Top Places to Work and the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts from The Women’s Edge. Lois received a BA cum laude from Macalester College and earned a JD from the Northeastern University School of Law. She also completed the Advanced Management Program of Harvard Business School and the Executive Leadership Program of America’s Health Insurance Plans. We highly value Lois’s unique experience and perspective on MHQP’s Board of Directors.

MHQP is pleased to have had Rick Siegrist, MS, MBA, CPA, serve as a key member of our Board of Directors for the past 10 years. He is a senior lecturer on health care management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he teaches physician, graduate, and executive education courses on financial management, cost accounting, management control, innovation and entrepreneurship. He is also director of the master in health care management program for physicians and the director of innovation and entrepreneurship. Rick holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, an MS in Accounting from the New York University Graduate School of Business, and a BA in Political Economy from Williams College. As the former CEO of Press Ganey Associates, SVP of WebMD, and co-founder and CEO of several healthcare startup companies, Rick has brought a unique and valued perspective to the MHQP Board of Directors.

Another striking statistic from the Primary Care Dashboard that The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) published earlier this year in collaboration with MHQP. Unnecessary and costly visits to the Emergency Department are a natural consequence of insufficient access to primary care. Is anyone surprised to see this break along racial/ethnic lines?

An important article about the perils of #primarycare as a for-profit enterprise. Brings to mind the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine's 2021 report, “Implementing High Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care.” The report asserts that “primary care is the only part of the health care system that results in longer lives and more equity,” and therefore should be considered a “public good.” How does that vision stack up to the current reality? https://lnkd.in/dtT7N5rK

MHQP is pleased to have Ryan Boxill, PhD MBA, as a member of our Board of Directors. Ryan is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. He holds a PhD in Cross Cultural Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Fresno, California, and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts in Boston with a specialization in Finance. He is also a certified trainer in Diversity and Intercultural Sensitivity. Dr. Boxill’s unique balance of business expertise, strategic vision, operational leadership, and behavioral health expertise bring an important and valued perspective to MHQP’s oversight and governance.