Mankato Clinic Recognized for Improving Care Delivery and Patient Outcomes
Wednesday, August 03, 2016
Mankato Clinic is among 276 Minnesota and border state clinics that were recently recognized for delivering optimal care and achieving optimal care measures or improving specific patient outcomes as part of the 2016 Minnesota Bridges to Excellence program and the Minnesota Quality Incentive Payment System (QIPS), a State of Minnesota pay-for-performance program that is administered by The Action Group.
Mankato Clinic Mapleton and Lake Crystal were recognized for achieving the program’s specific clinical outcomes for patients with depression; which are known to be primary drivers of health care costs. Meeting achievement goals is the highest level of recognition in the program.
Mankato Clinic Daniels Health Center received a QIPS for vascular care.
In addition, Lake Crystal and Mapleton were recognized for meeting the improvement goal depression care based on depression remission at six months.
“Health care is dynamic and everything – from clinical guidelines to best practices and benefit plan designs – is changing, yet improving health and health care remains a shared priority,” said Carolyn Pare, president and CEO, Minnesota Health Action Group. “Through Minnesota Bridges to Excellence, health care purchasers who work with The Action Group have continued to send a clear message that high-value health care and outcomes are a priority. Meanwhile, clinics across the state continue to meet the challenge of delivering optimal, high-value care to their patients.”
The Minnesota Bridges to Excellence program, which was established by the Minnesota Health Action Group in 2004, and the State’s Quality Incentive Payment System implemented in 2011, uses clinical data that is publicly reported to identify clinics that qualify for a reward for meeting or exceeding optimal care standards for a specified percentage of patients with diabetes, vascular disease and depression.
To be eligible for a reward, clinics must have a certain percentage of patients at optimal levels of care or significantly increase the number over the previous year. Performance goals are set each year by the Minnesota Health Action Group and the purchasers who fund the rewards. For diabetes, measurement components include levels of blood sugar and blood pressure, along with non-smoking status and daily aspirin use for all patients at risk for cardiovascular disease. Vascular disease measurements include blood pressure levels, along with non-smoking status, and daily aspirin for all patients. And the depression measurement is remission at six months based on the patient’s improvement in their PHQ-9 score over a six-month period of time. The PHQ-9 is an assessment questionnaire completed by patients and results in a numerical score that represents the patient’s level of depression.
Financial rewards are made possible by the Minnesota Bridges to Excellence Champions of Change, a group of organizations that sponsor the pay-for-performance programs. Champions include Best Buy, Carlson Companies, Southwest/West Central Service Cooperative, State of Minnesota-State Employee Group Insurance Plan, the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the University of Minnesota, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. These organizations provide health care coverage to nearly one million people in the state.
About the Minnesota Health Action Group
Formed in 1988 as the Buyers Health Care Action Group, the Minnesota Health Action Group is a coalition of public and private employers. Based in Bloomington, Minn., The Action Group is the only Minnesota organization whose sole purpose to represent the collective voice of those who pay the bill for health care—employers, public purchasers and individuals. The Action Group drives innovation, collaboration and engagement in ways that improve health care and ensures the economic vitality of all Minnesota communities.