MNCM Services

Who We Serve

Measurement & Reporting

Facilitated Data Sharing

Collaboration & Innovation

Contract Services

Who We Serve

MNCM services empower health care decision makers with meaningful data to drive improvement. We strive to deliver products that meet the specific needs of each stakeholder.

Health Care Providers and Payers

For health care providers and payers, MNCM is a trusted community collaborative offering data that illustrate performance on health care quality and cost with comparison to peers in the market. MNCM data recognize excellence and shed light on opportunities to improve quality outcomes and address disparities.

Providers, health plans and other payers that contribute data to MNCM receive a standard set of feedback reports. Founding and supporting members of MNCM have access to additional benefits, and all are welcome to join MNCM in our efforts to support the community in improving together.

Policy Makers and Researchers

For policy makers and researchers, MNCM is a trusted community collaborative offering timely data that illustrate statewide performance on health care quality and cost measures, as well as valuable expertise that can be used to inform sound policy. The data collected by MNCM are also valuable for program evaluation and other research that advances the body of knowledge supporting improvement in health care quality, equity and affordability.

Policy makers are encouraged to review MNCM Community Reports for the most recent statewide data. Additional detail on MNCM research and evaluation partnerships are available under Contract Services.

Employers, Patients and Caregivers

For employers, patients and caregivers, MNCM is a trusted community collaborative offering key insights into how medical groups and clinics score on health care quality and cost measures. This information provides helpful insights to patients and caregivers in their efforts to access high value care.

Employers, patients and caregivers are key stakeholders that participate in MNCM governance and inform the strategic direction for measurement and reporting in our community. Those interested in engagement opportunities can subscribe to the Measurement Minute newsletter.

Key resources to check out include our community reports and the MNHealthScores website.

Measurement & Reporting

MNCM is proud to partner with several organizations that support statewide measurement and reporting. Measurement and reporting services include measures of both clinical quality and health care cost. Many health care experts and community members help shape our work.

The Measurement and Reporting Committee (MARC) recommends measurement priorities, specifications, guiding principles and policies for public reporting of measurement data.

MARC Members

Current members of the MARC include:

Co-Chairs:

Anne Katherine Hust*, MD, MPH, Hennepin Healthcare – Large Metro Medical Group Representative
Sue Knudson*, MA, HealthPartners Health Plan - Health Plan Representative

Members:

Lori Bethke, MD, Entira Family Clinics - Medium Metro Medical Group Representative
Joseph Bianco, MD*, Essentia Health - Non-Metro Medical Group Representative
Matt Flory, American Cancer Society - Consumer Representative
Jamie Galbreath, UCare - Health Plan Representative
Cara Hull, HealthPartners Clinics - Specialty Medical Group Representative
Steve Inman, MD*, Pediatric Services, PA, - Small Metro Medical Group Representative
Craig Johnson, Therapy Partners, Inc. – Specialty Medical Group Representative
Dave Johnson, Hennepin County Public Health - Public Health Representative
Clarence Jones*, Hue-MAN Partnership - Consumer Representative
Stephanie Krieg, Minnesota Department of Human Services – Government Agency/Purchaser Representative
David Kurtzon, Minnesota Department of Health - Government Agency Representative
Jennifer Lamprecht*, Quality Strategy Director, Sanford Health - Non-metro Medical Group Representative
Christine Norton, MN Breast Cancer Coalition - Consumer Representative
Angela Olson, Fairview Range Medical Center Hibbing - Non-Metro Medical Group Representative
Bridget Olson, Planned Parenthood - Safety Net Clinic Representative
Angie Pokharel, Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota - Health Plan Representative
David Satin, MD, University of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Physicians - Large Metro Medical Group Representative
Denise Schneekloth, MN Rural Health Cooperative – Regional Collaborative Representative
Erica Schuler, Medica - Health Plan Representative
Amanda Strom, Allina Health - Large Metro Medical Group Representative
Sean Wherry, MD, CentraCare - Non-Metro Medical Group Representative

*MNCM Board member

MARC Meetings

MNCM Slate of Measures

Each year, the MNCM Slate of Measures is reviewed by the Measure Review Committee (MRC). The MRC is a sub-committee of the MARC that provides ongoing evaluation of existing measures to ensure continued value to the community. Value criteria indicate a measure must:

Be consistent with evidence-based standards of care and guidelines
Address a high-priority aspect of health care (i.e. high disease burden, high resource use, severity of illness)
Demonstrate a gap in performance
Meet reliability and validity standards

The feasibility and burden of data collection, current use of the measures in accountability programs and/or quality improvement activities, and harmonization with existing local and national measures and/or programs – are also considered.

Recommendations from MRC inform development of the annual Slate of Measures recommended by the MARC and approved by MNCM Board of Directors each December.

MNCM 2024 Slate of Measures

MNCM 2023 Slate of Measures

MNCM 2022 Slate of Measures

CHIRP Facilitated Data Sharing Program

MNCM’s Common Health Information Reporting Partnership (CHIRP) offers a facilitated data sharing program, streamlining the bi-directional sharing of patient-level data between health care payers and providers for specified use cases that have been defined and agreed upon by MNCM’s CHIRP Governance Committee. The goal of CHIRP is to drive health care improvement by facilitating standardized data sharing that is timely, actionable, consistent, and complete. As part of the provider-to-payer component of CHIRP’s facilitated data sharing program, medical groups participate with MNCM in data validation through NCQA’s Data Aggregator Validation program.

For more information, contact the CHIRP Program Manager, Maegi Yang, at support@mncm.org.

NCQA Data Aggregation Validation Validated Data Stream badge

CHIRP Governance Committee Members

The CHIRP Governance Committee advises the MNCM Board of Directors on the use cases, policies, and procedures for the CHIRP facilitated data sharing program. It includes equal representation from health care payers and health care providers.

Members include:

Jennifer Lamprecht (Co-Chair/Board of Director Representative) – Sanford Health
Chelsey Doepner (Co-Chair) – UCare
Annette Baumann – Hennepin Health
Shari Black – Mayo Clinic
Jill Coleman – Essentia Health
Sue Gentilli – Allina Health
Chad Heim – HealthPartners
Matt Hoenck – South Country Health Alliance
Bethany Krafthefer – Primewest Health
Maikin Farrington – Blue Cross Blue Shield of MN
Erica Schuler – Medica
Hannah Wieshalla – CentraCare

CHIRP Resources

CHIRP Payer Participants

Status of Health Plans participating in the CHIRP program:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of MN - In Progress
HealthPartners Health Plan - Active
Hennepin Health - In Progress
Medica - Active
PrimeWest Health - Active
South Country Health Alliance - Pending
UCare - Active

Definitions:

Pending: Working through agreements to participate in the program
In Progress: Working through PIPE onboarding
Active: Completed PIPE onboarding and can receive CHIRP facilitated data

CHIRP Provider Participants

Status of medical groups participating in the CHIRP program:

North Memorial
- Status: Validated
- Validation Date: 6/1/2024
Northfield Hospital and Clinics
- Status: In Progress
Olmsted Medical Center
- Status: Validated
- Validation Date: 12/1/2023
Southside Community Health Services
- Status: Validated
- Validation Date: 12/1/2023
Stellis Health
- Status: Validated
- Validation Date: 6/1/2024

Definitions:

In Progress Status: Medical group is eligible for facilitating CHIRP data, but has not yet gone through the NCQA Data Aggregator Validation Program for validation to be considered standard supplemental.
Validated Status: Medical group is eligible for facilitating CHIRP data and have gone through the NCQA Data Aggregator Validation Program for validation to be considered standard supplemental.
Validation Date: Date in which medical group successfully completed validation through the NCQA Data Aggregator Validation Program.

Collaboration & Innovation

Minnesota Care Coordination Effectiveness Study (MNCARES)

HealthPartners Institute, in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and MN Community Measurement (MNCM), has been awarded $4 Million from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study the effect of care coordination on patient outcomes. The partners are pleased to introduce the new Minnesota Care Coordination Effectiveness Study (MNCARES).

The purpose of MNCARES is to compare two approaches to care coordination for patients with high health care costs and multiple morbidities. The goal is to learn what approaches to care coordination in primary care settings produce the best care quality, utilization, and patient-centered outcomes. The first model includes care coordination performed by a nurse or other clinical staff. The second model includes a social worker as part of the care team.

Please visit the MNCARES web page hosted by MDH to learn more about the project and the important questions it will help our community answer.

About MNCM's role:

MNCM is a member of the Executive and Steering Committees for the study and plays a leadership role in several workgroups defining the details for data collection. MNCM is responsible for providing input into the study design and operational plan of data flow – and is responsible aggregating data from all sources relevant to the study. It will then produce the final data set for HealthPartners Institute to conduct the analysis.

As the data hub for MNCARES, MNCM will receive patient data from participating clinics, send selective data to and receive data back from payers and the survey center, contribute relevant MNCM data on quality measures for care coordination patients, and send aggregate deidentified data to the study team.

MNCM will leverage its established legal framework and relationships with medical groups and health plans across Minnesota for quality measurement purposes, to secure agreements necessary to integrate data needed for the study.

Obesity Measure Development, Testing and Use

MN Community Measurement (MNCM) and the Endocrine Society (ES) have entered a collaboration agreement to develop and test measures focused on obesity care. This work is supported by a grant to the Endocrine Society from Novo Nordisk.

The purpose of this project is to build on work completed previously through Obesity Care Model Collaborative (OCMC) sponsored by the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) Foundation to develop excellent outcome measures that will improve the health and well-being of patients with obesity. MNCM and ES will recruit experts to participate in interrelating Specification Engineering Group (SEG) and Technical Expert Panel (TEP) to prepare specifications for pilot testing and use.

This multi-year measure development and testing project aligns with MNCM’s mission to empower health care decision makers with meaningful measures and data to drive improvement for a condition that affects a large percentage of the population and can contribute to early mortality from chronic conditions or increase susceptibility to other diseases[1].

MN Community Measurement’s role:

Review and evaluate measures developed for OCMC
Create draft measure specifications
Work with the Endocrine Society to recruit workgroup members for SEG/TEP
Facilitate SEG and refine measure specifications; facilitate TEP for feedback
Finalize detailed measure specifications, algorithms, data dictionary, value sets
Pilot testing and technical assistance, data collection, analysis, and reporting

Endocrine Society’s role:

Grant application and administration
Work with MNCM to recruit workgroup members for SEG/TEP
Work with MNCM to secure pilot participants for testing measures
Collaborate with MNCM to determine steps for use in federal programs/ NQF endorsement, use dissemination

[1] https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/obesity/obesity-health-consequences

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Dashboard Initiative

In November 2023, MN Community Measurement will be launching a new data analysis tool for medical groups and clinics onboarded into PIPE related to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diabetes.

The Dashboard will support medical groups in tracking and assessing improvement efforts related to CKD prevention, diagnosis, and treatment among patients with diabetes. Data included in the Dashboard will be available only to participating medical groups, and not publicly reported. It will feature nine metrics covering topics related to CKD and diabetes such as CKD screening, blood glucose and blood pressure management and guideline-recommended treatment. Participating medical groups will be able to view their own medical group and clinic performance, including stratifications by demographic variables. Additionally, medical group level peer comparisons will also be available. Medical groups will also be able to request monthly patient-level gap reports, which will be made available through MNCM’s HIPAA-secure FTP.

This Dashboard will be available free of charge to all medical groups that have onboarded into MNCM’s PIPE system and authorize MNCM to include their data in the dashboard.

To learn more, please view the previously recorded information sessions:

Information Session #1: Session Recording | Slides
Recorded 9/28/2023

Information Session #2: Session Recording | Slides
Recorded 10/24/2023

If you are interested in participating in the project, please complete this form.

Contract Services

MNCM offers a variety of contract services to support other organizations, academic institutions, grantors, and researchers in efforts that are aligned with our mission.

Measure Development, Testing & Redesign

MNCM is highly skilled in measure development, evaluation, testing and implementation. Several of our developed de novo measures have achieved National Quality Forum (NQF) endorsement and/or acceptance into federal quality payment programs. MNCM is recognized for its development of patient reported outcome based performance measures in the areas of depression, asthma, orthopedics and COPD.

MNCM measure development, testing and redesign services offer:

Multi-stakeholder consensus based process for measure development
Innovative, evidence-based measure creation and refinement
Detailed, feasible specifications for data collection and implementation
Robust pilot testing that incorporates appropriate clinical sites
Expertise working with data from disparate sources
Diverse data sets to draw from for testing
Credibility to move your measure through to acceptance

MNCM has spent years fine tuning our process to make it as efficient as possible. Each stage of our standard process has been thoroughly tested and can be customized to meet your needs and goals.

MNCM Process for Measure Development

To inquire about measure development, testing or redesign services, please contact support@mncm.org.

Research and Evaluation Partnerships

MNCM is a community resource with key assets to support program evaluation and research to advance improvement in health care quality, equity and cost. This includes:

Rich data on health care quality, equity, and cost,
Expertise on clinical quality and cost measurement and analysis
Data infrastructure and experience in supporting aggregation of data from multiple sources
Existing relationships with medical groups and health plans enable MNCM to be a key partner in rapidly engaging partners for new research or evaluation projects.

Summary of MNCM Data Resources

Example of Model for Research Projects

Example of Model for Evaluation Projects

To inquire about a research or evaluation partnership, please contact support@mncm.org.

Technology Services

Time is priceless to your staff working to improve quality —repetitive, essential, and timely tasks can be automated by a rule-based process through MNCM software called Process Intelligence (PI).

Your employees’ skills and creativity are essential to your success in improving health care quality and affordability. Let MNCM help you to automate tasks, streamline processes and increase employee productivity. MNCM Process Intelligence Softbots work 10-15 times faster than employees, can be executed simultaneously and work 24/7. MNCM PI provides consistency and allows for scalability. Implementing PI enables employees to focus on more valuable and non-repetitive activities, which helps to boost morale, job satisfaction, and productivity.

Contact support@mncm.org for more information!