Equity in Quality of Care and Patient Experiences

Overview

To monitor the impact of health system processes and policies on patient outcomes, CHIA examines clinical quality and patient experience measures across several care domains in primary care settings. In previous reports, CHIA presented statewide results for the performance of Massachusetts primary care providers and acute care hospitals on select metrics related to quality and safety.

For the first time, CHIA is reporting on these measures through a health equity lens to identify disparities and areas for improvement in an effort to advance a more equitable health care system in Massachusetts. Equity in Quality of Care: Select Clinical Quality and Patient Experience Measures in Massachusetts Stratified by Race and Ethnicity, 2023 includes select measures from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS*)—a widely utilized tool to evaluate clinical quality of care—and the Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP) Patient Experience Survey (PES), both of which relate to the primary care setting. The report also includes hospital performance on the Leapfrog Group’s health equity measure, which evaluates hospitals’ collection and use of patient demographic information to identify disparities and prioritize disparity reduction.

For detailed information on the data sources, see the accompanying technical appendix and databook.