About this Self Paced Training

Leveraging Equity Measures to Identify and Incentivize improvements in Racial Inequities in Care Part I

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (Blue Cross) shared the results of a new analysis of racial and ethnic inequities in health care and became the first health plan in Massachusetts to announce it will incorporate equity measures — differences in the quality of care across racial and ethnic groups — into its contracts and payment programs with clinicians who care for Blue Cross members. In preparation for equity-based payment incentives, BCBSMA has partnered with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to convene an Equity Action Community to develop equity-improving capabilities among providers and facilitate collaboration among them.

NCQA will host Dr. Mark Friedberg, Senior Vice President, Performance Measurement & Improvement at Blue Cross and Shannon Welch, MPH, Senior Director at Institute for Healthcare Improvement, for a presentation on this groundbreaking work. Join faculty for an overview of Blue Cross’ plan to address health inequity and racial injustice, results from the recently released Health Equity Report and the launch of a new collaborative intended to assist physicians and hospitals in improving racial inequities in care.

What You Will Learn

At the conclusion of the webinar, learners will be able to:
•    Summarize findings from Blue Cross’s recently released Health Equity Report.
•    Outline at least three tactics health plans can employ to engage clinicians, patients, and employers in efforts to address health inequities. 
•    Describe one method to prepare physicians and hospitals for equity-based financial incentives linked to improvements in racial inequities in care.

Who Should Attend

•    Health Care Population Professional
•    Health Care Decision Maker
•    Consultant
•    Health Plans
•    Health Systems
•    Hospitals
•    Managed Behavioral Healthcare Organizations
•    Population Health Organizations
•    Wellness Organization Leverages within Federal, States, and Employers

Faculty

Mark Friedberg, MD, MPP

Mark Friedberg, MD, MPP is Senior Vice President, Performance Measurement & Improvement at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. He is a practicing general internist in primary care & an assistant professor of medicine, part-time, at Brigham & Women’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School. Dr. Friedberg received his B.A. from Swarthmore College, his M.D. from HMS & his M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is responsible for all activities related to measuring and improving the performance of BCBSMA’s provider network, including metrics used in value-based contracts such as our Alternative Quality Contract, and he oversees data analytics related to BCBSMA’s own performance as a health plan.

Shannon Welch, MPH

Shannon Welch, MPH, is a Senior Director for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).  Her fifteen years of experience working in public health drives her passion and commitment to equity-focused work. Shannon’s current portfolio of projects includes work on equity and population health initiatives. Shannon recently led IHI’s Merck for Mothers Better Maternal Outcomes: Redesigning Systems with Black Women initiative and currently leads the Pursuing Equity Learning and Action Network that aims to reduce inequities in health and health care access, treatment, and outcomes by implementing comprehensive strategies to create and sustain equitable health systems.

Prior to joining IHI, Shannon worked for the Oklahoma City-County Health Department as the Division Director of Community Health.  During her tenure with the agency, she had primary oversight for a broad portfolio of programs: Wellness Now (a 350-member, community-led coalition), fetal infant mortality review/maternal and child health outreach, chronic disease prevention, school health, tobacco use prevention, physical activity and nutrition, teen pregnancy prevention, WIC, Children First (Nurse Family Partnership) and employee wellness.  Shannon is a graduate from the University of Oklahoma, where she earned a B.S. in Health and Sport Sciences. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.  

Continuing Education

This live course grants 1.0 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) points for PCMH Certified Content Experts.  

* Please note – You must attend the entire program to be eligible for total number of contact hours.

Disclosure of Relevant Financial Relationships

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) endorses the Standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education which specify that sponsors of continuing medical education activities and presenters at and planners for these activities disclose any relevant financial relationships either party might have with commercial companies whose products or services are discussed in educational presentations.

For sponsors, relevant financial relationships include large research grants, institutional agreements for joint initiatives, substantial gifts, or other relationships that benefit the institution.  For presenters or planning committee members, relevant financial relationships include the receipt of research grants from a commercial company, consultancies, honoraria, travel, or other benefits, or having a self-managed equity interest in a company; or having an immediate family member or partner with such a relationship.

Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone bias in any presentation but is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation.

Relevant financial relationships exist with the following companies/organizations:

Faculty:
Mark Friedberg: None
Shannon Welch: None

Additional Planning Committee Members:
Cathy Beckner: None

This program was developed in part by NCQA staff.
This program received no commercial support.