Celebrating 20 Years of Innovation and Impact
By Liz Cinqueonce, President and CEO, MN Community Measurement
As MN Community Measurement begins to celebrate its 20th anniversary, I am both humbled and energized by what this community has achieved together. What began as a pioneering effort to improve health by publicly reporting health care information has grown into our current mission to empower health care decision-makers with meaningful data to drive improvements in quality, equity, and affordability.
Over the years, MNCM’s work has evolved beyond measurement and reporting. Today, we actively support data-sharing among health care stakeholders, ensuring providers, payers, and community leaders have the insights needed to address gaps in care. Partnering with researchers, we work to answer critical questions that advance health care improvements.
Our success is built on the diverse engagement of health care payers, providers, government agencies, employers, consumers, and researchers, whose collaboration has shaped MNCM’s services and whose resources have contributed to the development of its infrastructure. The MNCM Board is dedicated to fully leveraging this shared community resource, to serve our community well into the future.
Looking ahead, MNCM’s Board will convene in early 2025 to develop a strategic plan for 2030. Your reflections on our journey and insights for the future are invaluable as we shape this vision. Your input will help ensure MNCM remains relevant and impactful, contributing to a stronger, more equitable health care system.
We Value Your Voice: Share Your Reflections and Insights
As we shape MNCM’s future, we invite you to reflect and provide your thoughts. In particular, we’d love to hear your responses to these questions:
- Reflecting on MNCM’s impact over the past 20 years, what achievements have been most meaningful to you, and why?
- Looking ahead, what are the most important areas where MNCM should focus to continue delivering value and advancing health care quality, equity, and affordability?
Your input will help guide our path forward, ensuring that MNCM remains a valuable resource for our community. Contribute your reflections and insights.
Thank you for being part of this remarkable journey. Here’s to 20 years of progress—and to many more years of impact and innovation.
MNCM Seeks Workgroup Participants for Redesign of Optimal Asthma Control Measure
In June 2024, MNCM’s Measurement and Reporting Committee (MARC) reviewed the Optimal Asthma Control measure and determined that the measure should undergo a more in-depth review from a measure development workgroup. The committee raised concerns specifically related to the acceptable patient-reported outcome (PRO) tools included in the measure as well as how the Low Risk of Exacerbation component is defined.
To complete this work, MNCM will convene a group of clinical experts through a Specifications Engineering Group (SEG). The SEG will review the details of the measure construct and draft measure specifications in preparation for feedback from a larger multi-stakeholder Technical Expert Panel (TEP). The SEG will be a smaller subgroup of the TEP.
MNCM is seeking the following kinds of volunteers for the groups:
- Health care providers (MDs, DOs, APRNs, PAs, PharmDs) in the specialties of pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and allergy/asthma medicine, who are passionate in the care and treatment of patients with asthma.
- Employers/purchasers
- Consumers/patients
- State agency representatives
- Quality improvement specialists/data analysts
- Health plan/payer representatives
All meetings will be facilitated virtually and will be based on member availability. The SEG will meet twice between November and December. The TEP will meet once in January.
If you are interested in volunteering for the SEG and/or TEP, please submit your application.
Once you submit your application, MNCM will send a Conflict of Interest policy and declaration via DocuSign. This must be completed for consideration for the SEG/TEP.
All applications must be completed by Wednesday, November 6 to be considered.
If you have any questions, please contact Jess Donovan at donovan@mncm.org.
PIPE 3.0 Launches!
We’re excited to announce the release of PIPE 3.0, marking a significant milestone in our commitment to secure, efficient healthcare data management. This release brings major enhancements to PIPE’s security framework, with updated protocols that strengthen the overall platform and provide a secure foundation for the future.
But the launch of PIPE 3.0 is just the beginning! Over the next year, we’ll continue releasing updates in our ambitious 3.0 Build Branch, culminating in version 3.8 by August 2025. This update schedule will introduce over 40 new primary builds, designed to meet the evolving needs of healthcare data management and keep our platform at the cutting edge.
What’s Coming Next in the 3.0 Build Branch?
Here’s a sneak peek at some of the exciting features we’ll be rolling out:
- sFTP Uploads for Medical Groups: New secure file transfer capabilities tailored for our medical group partners.
- Enhanced Data File Management: Improved file handling to make data management more efficient and user-friendly.
- Data Plausibility Import Validations: A series of quality checks to ensure that imported data meets our high standards for accuracy and reliability.
…and many more system and UI enhancements to provide a smooth, user-friendly experience!
What’s Next?
Our goal with PIPE 3.0 and the upcoming builds is to support the healthcare community with tools that are both secure and highly functional, enhancing your ability to manage data efficiently and safely. As we progress toward the 3.8 final release before 4.0, we’ll continue to share updates and keep you informed about the latest advancements.
Stay tuned for more developments as we keep innovating to make PIPE the premier platform for healthcare data management! Thank you for being part of our journey.
MNCM Conference Draws Another Record Crowd
More than 230 health care payers, health care providers, quality managers, business leaders, and policymakers attended the MNCM Annual Conference on Wednesday, September 25 at the Minneapolis Marriott Northwest in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Filled with sessions from industry leaders, attendees learned about the evolution of value-based care, the future of facilitated data sharing in Minnesota, collaborative research partnerships, and much more.
Dr. Joe Bianco Welcomes Guests to MNCM’s 2024 Annual Conference and Shares Strategic Vision for the Year Ahead
On September 25, 2024, Dr. Joe Bianco, Chair of the Board of Minnesota Community Measurement (MNCM), kicked off the organization’s Annual Conference in Brooklyn Park, MN. In his opening remarks, Dr. Bianco reflected on the vital work of healthcare professionals and shared key highlights of MNCM’s strategic initiatives for the coming year.
Dr. Bianco began by recounting a conversation with a friend who is an interventional cardiologist. When asked what her best day as a physician looked like, she described saving a patient from a life-threatening heart attack (ST-elevated myocardial infarction, or STEMI) through coordinated teamwork and expert intervention. “No doubt,” he noted, “that would be a good day—good for the patient and good for the cardiology team.” Continue Reading
Thank you, Conference Sponsors and Exhibitors!
Another thank you to our conference sponsors and exhibitors. Your support helps us plan this event and make it the best it can be. It is appreciated!
Conference Exhibitors
Abbott
Amwell
Ancilla Ventures
Bayer
Dynavax
Exact Sciences
Genentech
GSK
HealthPartners
Lilly
Merck Vaccines
Minnesota Association of County Health Plans
Novartis
Novo Nordisk
Organon
Otsuka
Pfizer
Reveleer
Sanofi
ThermoFisher Scientific
UCare
Unite Us
2025 MNCM Annual Conference Announced
MNCM is pleased to announce its 2025 Annual Conference, taking place September 24, 2025. We will once again return to the Minneapolis Marriott Northwest in Brooklyn Park. 2025 will mark 20 years for MNCM, and we are planning something special to commemorate it that you won't want to miss!
While the event is still taking shape, we are offering a special until the end of the year, 2024 prices for 2025. Act now to secure early discounted rates for next year's event!
Sign up to Sponsor/Exhibit today!
Join us as a sponsor or exhibitor at the MN Community Measurement Annual Conference 2025! You’ll have the opportunity to engage with hundreds of health care providers, payers, business leaders, and more.
Transitioning to Digital Quality Measurement: Insights from MNCM’s Experience
By Dr. Rowan Mahon, MNCM Manager of Data Integrity & Clinical Informatics
At the recent Core Quality Measures Collaborative (CQMC) annual strategic planning session, Rowan Mahon, PharmD, MPH, MHI, Manager of Data Integrity & Clinical Informatics at MNCM, shared invaluable insights into the transition from traditional clinical quality measures (CQMs) to digital quality measures (DQMs). With a background as both a clinical laboratory scientist and pharmacist, Dr. Mahon offered a unique perspective on the technical and clinical sides of healthcare data and the process of standardizing clinical data extraction for quality measurement. Continue Reading
Minnesota Colorectal Cancer Summit
Tuesday, November 12 | 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
American Cancer Society
950 Blue Gentian Road, Eagan, MN
Also available to attend via Zoom
The MN Dept. of Health, the Minnesota Cancer Alliance and the American Cancer Society invite all stakeholders to contribute to a state plan to increase colorectal cancer screening.
Sessions:
Understand the Data — Who is and who is not getting screened?
- Jessica Donovan, MN Community Measurement
- Christopher Campbell, Minnesota Department of Health
Increasing Demand for Screening — Tailored Messages
- Anne Book, HealthPartners Health Plan
- Melissa Buffalo, American Indian Cancer Foundation
- Francisco Ramirez, M Health Fairview
- Monisha Washington, Breast Cancer Gaps Project
Increasing Access & Improving Delivery (Presenters will be announced soon)
Building a State Plan — Small Group Discussions and Report Back
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
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 are based on the size of the medical group based on the number of providers reported by the medical group through annual registration for data submission.
Benefits of Membership:
- Access to the Data Visualization Portal
- Access to Interactive Benchmarking Tool, allowing you to compare your organization with several other peers on many different facets of quality, performance, and cost; Benchmarking Tool Overview Webinar.
- Access to MNCM Dynamic Tables;
- Discounts on MNCM Events, including the MNCM Annual Conference;
- And more!
Thank you current, MNCM Supporting members:
