Measurement Minute
June 2023
Julie Sonier, President and CEO, MN Community Measurement
Greetings, and happy summer! This is my favorite time of year, both because of the warm weather and the longer daylight hours to get outside and enjoy it. I hope you have some exciting adventures planned for the summer.
This edition of MNCM’s quarterly newsletter provides updates on a variety of happenings and projects at MNCM, and I want to share my perspective on two of them in particular:
- First, it was so gratifying to be able to gather in person this year for MNCM’s Annual Conference on April 26. There was an energy in the air that just can’t be achieved via Zoom! Among the many topics covered were some important projects MNCM has under way that aim to build on our foundational work of collecting and publishing data on health care quality, cost, and equity in some important ways – by enabling research to better understand what works to improve outcomes and care, by providing new information to drive quality improvement efforts, and by addressing barriers to data sharing between health care providers and payers. I especially want to thank all of the conference speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, and MNCM staff who made the day a success!
- Second, MNCM is making rapid progress in transitioning to the new PIPE data collection system for clinical data. In the clinical data collection cycle for Measurement Year 2022 that wrapped up in March, 53 percent of patients were submitted via PIPE (up from 28 percent the previous year). I want to recognize the medical groups that have already onboarded to PIPE and those that are currently in the onboarding process for their engagement and commitment.
When I talk with peers from outside of Minnesota, they often express awe at what we have been able to accomplish here through collaborative efforts such as the work of MNCM. The two examples above are important reminders that MNCM’s success depends on the efforts of many partners and collaborators.
With gratitude,
MNCM Welcomes New Board Members
MNCM is pleased to welcome three new members to its Board of Directors in 2023:
Galen Benshoof is the director of Minnesota’s state employee health plan, the largest employer purchaser of health care in the state. Within Minnesota Management and Budget, he leads a team that uses evidence-based strategy to promote the use of cost-efficient, high-quality health care for state employees and their families. Previously, he served in a leadership role at Minnesota’s Department of Commerce, where he oversaw regulation of commercial health insurance and worked with stakeholders to develop policy aimed at making coverage and care more accessible to Minnesotans. Galen received a Master in Public Affairs from Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs, earning a certificate in Health & Health Policy, and also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pomona College. He was raised in the north woods of Bemidji.
Sue Knudson is executive vice president and chief health engagement and informatics officer at HealthPartners. She has more than 25 years of health care experience, including informatics and operational leadership roles. Since 2006, Ms. Knudson has been responsible for HealthPartners strategic information and business intelligence support capabilities to ensure HealthPartners’ status as an innovative leader in consumer health information, consumer insights, provider payment, product design, employer reporting, health improvement, health and care engagement and care delivery.
Ms. Knudson is an appointed member of Minnesota Community Measurement's Measurement and Reporting Committee. This group is charged with reviewing and making recommendations on statewide publicly reporting measures and policies, as well as testing ideas and strategies related to data collection and measurement to promote transparency.
Ms. Knudson holds a Master of Arts Degree in Health and Human Services Administration from St. Mary’s University in Minnesota and a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from the University of North Dakota. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gardening, running, biking, and spending time with her family. She is an active mentor for students and emerging leaders and a member of the Labovitz School of Business and Economics Health Care Management Advisory Council at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Greater Twin Cities YMCA.
Jennifer Lamprecht is the Director of Quality Strategy for Sanford Health. She developed an innovative system level team to provide a centralized resource for quality measurement, regulatory reporting, and improvement methods across all healthcare settings. Her team is responsible for understanding the changes in healthcare quality regulation and preparing the organization for success while driving system level standardization. With 18 years of experience in healthcare quality, Jen advises executive leadership through analysis of performance across value-based programs and prioritizes areas for improvement. A nurse by training, she earned her Master’s degree and certification as a Clinical Nurse Leader in 2013. Outside of work, she is a thrill seeker who likes roller coasters, rock concerts, and is a retired drag racing champion at her local track.
MNCM Data Validation
Thank you to medical groups that completed 2022 Measurement Year (MY) data submission. MNCM is currently in the process of risk adjusting quality measures (where applicable), and will share the one-week risk adjustment preview of final results with medical groups later this summer. In total, 27% of medical groups submitted through PIPE (73% DDS) and 53% of patients were submitted through PIPE (47% DDS).
MNCM is currently prioritizing PIPE onboarding for large primary care groups and multi-specialty health systems. We anticipate that over 70% of medical groups and 85% of patients will be submitted through PIPE in 2023 MY. The remaining specialty groups and small clinics will complete onboarding early in 2024 for 2024 MY submission.
MNCM Dynamic Tables Tool Shifts to Member, Supporter Access
MNCM’s Dynamic Tables tool is now available for MNCM health plan members, supporting members, and mission supporters only. Medical group and clinic-level data for quality and cost measures will continue to be publicly available through the appendices to MNCM’s published reports and the medical group and clinic profiles published via MNHealthScores.
Dynamic Tables will now be found in the MNCM Data Visualization Portal, where members can access interactive tools, including the Member Benchmarking Tool.
Access the Data Visualization Portal
If your organization is not currently a health plan member, supporting medical group member, or mission supporter, please contact Joe Flannigan at flannigan@mncm.org to learn more.
MNCM 2023 Annual Conference a Resounding Success
MNCM held its 2023 Annual Conference at the end of April in Plymouth. During the one-day event, attendees learned about many different topics, including sessions about social risk factors, MNCM’s PIPE data infrastructure, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, health care cost, and more.
Attendance was up again this year, with an increase of more than 10 percent from last year, and we were glad to see so many joining us in person for the first time in four years. It was so nice to see so many of you face-to-face again! MNCM is already working on planning for future events, so if you have any additional input you would like to provide, please send it to Joe Flannigan at flannigan@mncm.org.
We were pleased to see so many organizations joining us to sponsor and exhibit. This year brought a record number of exhibitors to meet with attendees. Another special thank-you to our sponsors. Their contribution is instrumental to the conference, and we appreciate their support.
Thank you, Sponsors!
Thank you, Exhibitors
- Abbott
- American Cancer Society
- AstraZeneca
- Bayer
- Dexcom, Inc.
- Dynavax
- Exact Sciences Corporation
- Genesight - Myriad Genetics
- GSK/Veeva Digital Events
- Lilly
- Medica
- Merck Vaccines
- MN Association of County Health Plans
- Novartis
- Novo Nordisk
- Open Arms of Minnesota
- Organon
- Pfizer
- Sanofi Vaccines
In Case You Missed It
Recent Reports Released by MNCM
Minnesota Health Care Disparities By Insurance Type Report
Results for care delivered in 2021
Gaps in health care quality for people with coverage through Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare compared to other types of health insurance persisted in 2021, according to a new report from MN Community Measurement (MNCM). The report was prepared for the Minnesota Department of Human Services and compares health care quality and health outcomes for people who received coverage through Minnesota Health Care Programs managed care organizations (MHCP MCO) to the same measures for people with private health insurance coverage or Medicare Advantage plans. The report includes 21 measures of health care quality for preventive care, chronic disease management, and mental health.
Recent MNCM Webinars
Social Risk Factors Data Collection
March 22, 2023
Collection and use of data on social risk factors to improve health outcomes and health equity is currently a high priority in Minnesota and nationally, and the landscape is evolving rapidly. In 2022, MN Community Measurement convened a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to develop a roadmap for future collection of social risk factors data. The TAG’s main goals were to find a way of collecting information on social risk factors that:
- Accommodates providers’ use of multiple approaches and tools,
- Avoids creating additional burden for providers, and
- Will be robust and adaptable as national approaches and expectations evolve.
This webinar summarized the TAG’s work and recommended roadmap for MNCM to begin collecting social risk factors data by 2025.
View the Webinar | View the Slides
Health Care Quality in Minnesota: Disparities by Insurance Type
May 23, 2023
As the health care system continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 on care delivery, quality measurement provides valuable insights into a variety of health topics that continue to have opportunities for improvement across Minnesota.
In this installment of MNCM’s Health Care Quality webinar series, MNCM provided an overview of the Minnesota Health Care Disparities by Insurance Type Report. This report was completed in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and includes analysis of statewide results segmented by Minnesota Health Care Plans (MHCP) and Other Purchasers (e.g, commercial, Medicare). Additionally, statewide results by the MHCP population are further segmented by Race, Ethnicity, Language and Country of Origin (RELC). The webinar also featured insights from DHS, including how they utilize this report in their work towards quality health care for Minnesotans.
Thank you to our Current Mission Supporters
Financial support is essential to sustain and grow our objective, unbiased work. Our Mission Supporters help assure our independent work continues.
For more information, or to join this program, please reach out to Joe Flannigan at flannigan@mncm.org.
Ways to Support MNCM
MNCM values engagement by its members, employers, and industry partners to support MNCM’s mission. Below are several options to support MNCM and engage with us.
Supporting Membership (for Medical Groups and Advocacy Organizations)
Supporting membership is a great way to show your support and commitment to improving the quality and affordability of health care in our community through collaboration with other stakeholders. It also supports MNCM’s efforts to make quality measurement easier so clinic staff can spend more time on improvement activities. Annual membership dues are designed to be affordable and for medical groups are based on the number of providers reported by the medical group through annual registration for data submission.
Benefits of Membership:
- Access to Interactive Benchmarking Tool, allowing you to compare your organization with several other peers on many different facets of quality, performance, and cost;
- Discounts on MNCM Events, including the MNCM Annual Conference;
- Access to MNCM Dynamic Tables;
- And more!
View details about supporting membership
Thank you current, MNCM Supporting members:
Mission Supporter Program (for Industry Partners)
MNCM recently announced a new Mission Supporter Program for companies that support MNCM’s mission and want to demonstrate support and commitment to improving health care quality, equity, and affordability in our community. This program is designed for those who are not directly involved with the services MNCM provides, but still support the efforts of our organization and those who will benefit from those efforts.
Supporters will have access to several benefits at two distinct levels. These benefits include recognition through our newsletter, on our website and on social media. Exclusive benefits are also offered to our gold level supporters. View Mission Supporter Program Details.
For more information, or to join this program, please reach out to Joe Flannigan at flannigan@mncm.org.