In this episode of Inside Health Care, Dr. Daniel Alford, Professor of Medicine at Boston University and Director of Safer/Competent Opioid Prescribing Education (SCOPE) of Pain Program chats with Lawrence Green, NCQA Communications Specialist about the SCOPE of Pain Program. SCOPE of Pain is a series of continuing medical education/continuing nursing education activities designed to help health care professionals safely and effectively manage patients with acute and/or chronic pain, when approp...
Sep 08, 2020•37 min•Ep. 51
In this episode of Inside Health Care, Peggy O’Kane, NCQA President, and Dr. Vivian Lee, President of Verily Life Sciences, discuss Lee’s book, The Long Fix: Solving America’s Health Care Crisis with Strategies That Work for Everyone. Dr. Lee lays out a concrete plan for paying doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies to keep people healthy while improving care and decreasing patients’ health care costs. Dr. Lee also talks about her childhood motivations for pursuing medicine, how deliver...
Aug 25, 2020•22 min•Ep. 50
In this episode of Inside Health Care, Wendy Talbot, Assistant Vice President, Measure Collection & Audit and Lawrence Green, Communications Specialist, discuss the NCQA HEDIS Compliance Audit process and NCQA’s Data Aggregator Validation (DAV) pilot program. The Compliance Audit helps ensure accurate, reliable data can be used by employers, consumers and government to compare health plans.. The DAVpilot program seeks to validate data aggregators that collect electronic clinical data from mu...
Aug 11, 2020•24 min•Ep. 49
In this episode of Inside Health Care, Dr. Brad Ryan , NCQA’s new Chief Product Officer, and Matt Brock, NCQA Communications Director, discuss Brad’s experience and background in science, engineering and technology, and his mission to evolve NCQA’s existing product portfolio and launch new products in the digital space. Dr. Ryan also talks about how collecting and using EHRs more readily could improve the quality of care and shares his vision of NCQA as a thought leader in determining the future...
Jul 28, 2020•35 min•Ep. 48
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Scott Meyer, Executive Director of Value Based Care Operations at Summit Medical Group (SMG) in Tennessee and Matt Brock, NCQA Communications Director, discuss how NCQA’s Recognized Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Program transformed SMG’s more than 70 practices. Scott examines how NCQA’s PCMH Recognition program helped SMG quickly adapt to serve the needs of patients during the pandemic. He talks about how the Recognition program shares a “universal...
Jul 14, 2020•28 min•Ep. 47
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Peggy O’Kane, NCQA President, and Frank Micciche, NCQA VP of Public Policy and Communications, discuss how NCQA plans to help shape telehealth policy as it becomes the dominant form of care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peggy and Frank discuss the Taskforce on Telehealth Policy —convened by NCQA, the Alliance for Connected Care and the American Telemedicine Association—which is leading the effort to develop recommendations for maximizing teleheal...
Jul 09, 2020•25 min•Ep. 46
We want to make sure you don’t miss this. It’s an important edition of “Inside Health Care”. Last week, NCQA issued a statement about the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. The full statement is posted on our website. But here’s a small excerpt: “These terrible losses in succession, followed by violence against peaceful protesters, are unfortunately part of a larger picture of law enforcement aggression and racial profiling of Black Americans dating back generations. Adva...
Jun 16, 2020•18 min•Ep. 45
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Peggy O’Kane, NCQA President, moderates an expert panel discussion to explore how health plans, systems and clinicians are using telehealth to respond to COVID-19 and how challenges and opportunities identified during the pandemic might inform the future. Panelists are Dr. Yul Ejnes, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Kerry Palakanis, Executive Director of Connect Care Operations, Intermountain Heal...
Jun 09, 2020•18 min•Ep. 44
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Peggy O’Kane, NCQA President, moderates an expert panel discussion to explore how health plans, systems and clinicians are using telehealth to respond to COVID-19 and how challenges and opportunities identified during the pandemic might inform the future. Panelists are Dr. Yul Ejnes, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Kerry Palakanis, Executive Director of Connect Care Operations, Intermountain Heal...
Jun 02, 2020•36 min•Ep. 43
Dr. Michael Barr, Executive Vice President, Quality Measurement and Research Group In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Dr. Michael Barr, NCQA Executive Vice President, Quality Measurement and Research Group, and Matt Brock, NCQA Communications Director, discuss how telehealth has transformed the delivery of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Barr discusses his experiences with telemedicine and how primary care practices are adjusting to this new reality. We also discuss the direction of...
May 04, 2020•16 min•Ep. 42
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Peggy O’Kane, NCQA President, and Frank Micciche, NCQA VP of Public Affairs and Communications, discuss the importance of public health during the COVID-19 crisis: how COVID-19 is affecting American society as well as quality measurement—and NCQA. Peggy also talks about building a telehealth infrastructure and how the virus is disproportionately impacting African Americans, Hispanics and the underprivileged. Listen to the podcast below. Learn more about e...
Apr 13, 2020•22 min•Ep. 41
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Delia Brand, Director of Alabama Tombigbee Regional Commission Area Agency on Aging (AAA), and Matt Brock, NCQA Communications Director, discuss how NCQA’s Accreditation of Case Management for Long-Term Services and Supports provides a framework for improving the quality of care. Delia describes how NCQA’s LTSS Best Practices Academy helped Alabama’s 13 AAA’s prepare to apply for Accreditation and how the application process led to better coordination of ...
Apr 01, 2020•19 min•Ep. 35
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Thomasene Barnes, of New York Health and Hospitals , and Kelsey Keller, of Hackensack Meridian Health , discuss their PCMH Certified Content Expert (CCE) Quality awardwinning efforts with Matt Brock, NCQA Director of Communications. Thomasene and Kelsey talk about their innovative strategies for improving patient-centered care. They also discuss their leadership techniques, motivations and impressions of the PCMH Conference....
Mar 10, 2020•14 min•Ep. 34
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Dr. Christopher Grimsrud, of Kaiser Permanente Northern California; Dr. Pallavi Kamjula, of Arnot Ogden Medical Center; and Nick D’Ambra, of WellCare Health Plans, Inc., discuss their NCQA Innovation Award-winning projects with Matt Brock, NCQA Director of Communications. The awardees talk about the motivations, goals and future plans of their projects. Click here to learn more about the 2019 NCQA Innovation Award winners. The NCQA Innovation Awards recog...
Feb 25, 2020•24 min•Ep. 40
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Katharine Iskrant, Practice Leader of Healthy People, Inc. , joins Matt Brock, NCQA Director of Communications, for a conversation about the benefits of electronic clinical data system reporting for federal and state stakeholders, health plans, providers and patients. Katharine talks about her experiences as a certified compliance HEDIS auditor and how she works with health plans to improve the quality of care. She also discusses the challenges health pla...
Feb 11, 2020•28 min•Ep. 39
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Catherine Macpherson, Vice President of Product Strategy and Development and Chief Nutrition Officer of Mom’s Meals , joins Matt Brock, NCQA Director of Communications, to discuss how Mom’s Meals is addressing social determinants of health. What began as acts of kindness for family members transitioned to a company that provides home-delivered meals for health plans, AAAs and state governments, case managers and caregivers. Catherine tells us the role of ...
Jan 28, 2020•27 min•Ep. 38
On this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Peggy O’Kane, NCQA President, and Frank Micciche, NCQA VP of Public Affairs and Communications, discuss challenges and exciting developments in health care and at NCQA in 2020. Peggy talks about the role technology companies will play in health care and voices her excitement (and concerns) about who will provide health insurance options in the future. Peggy also discusses NCQA’s recent reorganization and efforts to recruit a Chief Product Officer and Dire...
Jan 17, 2020•31 min•Ep. 37
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Shari Davidson, Head of Benefits for the city of Alexandria, VA, and Matt Brock, NCQA Director of Communications, discuss delivering high-quality health care to more than 3,500 Alexandria city employees. Shari talks about the top priorities she implemented that promote the physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing of employees. She discusses how Alexandria, VA changed its open enrollment process from a manual to an electronic system and provided enroll...
Dec 10, 2019•23 min•Ep. 36
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Peggy O’Kane, NCQA President, and Frank Micciche, NCQA VP of Public Affairs and Communications, begin with a discussion about the concept of “quality-adjusted life year (QALY)” and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s bill proposing new health care legislation that would require providers and insurers to spend more on primary care and behavioral health in that state. Peggy also discusses her health care heroes and her commitment to meditation, and touch...
Dec 02, 2019•27 min•Ep. 35
On this episode of Inside Health Care , we speak with Philip Saynisch, PhD, NCQA’s 2019 Phyllis Torda Health Care Quality Fellowship recipient and recent Harvard University graduate. He discusses his background, the current focus of his research and how he learned about the Phyllis Torda Health Care Quality Fellowship. Dr. Saynisch’s work aims to identify performance drivers for health care organizations and providers, and how performance can change over time. Philip Saynisch, PhD, NCQA Torda Fe...
Nov 18, 2019•19 min•Ep. 34
On this episode of “Inside Health Care,” Peggy O’Kane, NCQA President, and Frank Micciche, NCQA VP of Public Affairs and Communications, discuss the unintended consequences of crafting health care policy. Topics in this episode range from President Trump changing kick-back rules for health care providers, to the systemization of health care delivery, to lessons from the passage of the Affordable Care Act, to EHRs and what it takes to build a better health care system. Click the link to listen to...
Oct 30, 2019•25 min•Ep. 33
With over 120 sites, CityMD is the leading urgent care provider in the New York metropolitan area and has earned NCQA Patient-Centered Connected Care Recognition for all of its eligible urgent care centers in New York, New Jersey and Seattle, Washington. Dr. Frank Illuzzi, CityMD NCQA took a road trip to CityMD headquarters, to talk about how it coordinates care between patients, specialists and primary care physicians. In this episode of Inside Health Care , guest host Paige Cook, NCQA’s Direct...
Oct 23, 2019•15 min•Ep. 32
How do we help employers help their employees? The employer market covers 180 million people in the United States—the largest payer of health care services. On this episode of “Inside Health Care”, NCQA welcomes Ellen Kelsay, Chief Strategy Officer for the National Business Group on Health. Based in Washington, D.C, the Business Group is a nonprofit membership-based organization that works with large self-funded employers on a variety of health and well-being related issues. In this episode, Ell...
Oct 02, 2019•31 min•Ep. 31
NCQA President Peggy O’Kane discusses her appointment to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Quality Summit group. Peggy is serving among some of the nation’s top health care policy leaders to advise the government on the challenges ahead and the proposed solutions to address them. NCQA Public Policy Vice President Frank Micciche asks the questions. The two also discuss the on-again, off-again controversial proposals to assign each American with a number–a unique patient identifier...
Oct 02, 2019•27 min•Ep. 30
We are facing a national crisis. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, each day more than 130 people in the United States die from an opioid overdose. How are health care professionals tackling this issue? On this episode of “Inside Health Care,” we chat with Dr. Daniel Alford, Professor of Medicine and course director for Boston University School of Medicine’s “SCOPE of Pain” safer opioid-prescribing program. SCOPE of Pain is a series of continuing medical/nursing education activit...
Aug 07, 2019•30 min•Ep. 29
On this edition of “Inside Health Care” we catch up with NCQA Founder and President, Peggy O’ Kane at the Digital Quality Summit in Boston, Massachusetts. O’Kane visits with NCQA Asst. Vice President Andy Reynolds, External Relations. They discuss the Summit, the future of Digital Quality and much more. Please be sure to give us a rating on your podcast player to help us increase the reach of “Inside Health Care”. You’ll want to subscribe to the podcast, too. We feature experts from across the h...
Jul 22, 2019•22 min•Ep. 28
People get their health care from many different places, and information about their health sits in those many different places. Why does this matter? For providers caring for patients, a fuller picture of the care their patient has received means the provider has the tools to understand their needs and make better recommendations. The HEDIS ECDS measures promote that principle. ECDS stands for “electronic clinical data systems.” That includes everything from electronic health records and case m...
Jul 08, 2019•19 min•Ep. 27
The conversation about the quality of maternal health in the United States has suddenly become more urgent. In 2019 American women have more chance of dying in childbirth than women do in any other industrialized nation. The maternal mortality rate in 2007 was 55 percent higher than the rate reported in 1990 , and it has only increased since then. Why is this happening? How can we improve Maternal Health? We asked Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, about that. She ...
Jun 07, 2019•17 min•Ep. 26
In 2017 NCQA hosted its first Digital Quality Summit, a unique (and niche) conference that focused on issues of implementing digital quality measures. Participants at that first summit comprised a handful of interested health IT wonks and others deep in the weeds of the subject. But to our surprise, the 2018 audience was a larger, more diverse gathering of tech gurus, health care professionals and policy experts—and tickets sold out. On July 16–18, we’ll be in Boston, Massachusetts, for the 2019...
Jun 04, 2019•24 min•Ep. 25
It’s commonly assumed that people go into health care because they want to help others. They want everyone to get the care they need, when they need it most. In fact, don’t we all want that—especially when we are the patient? Unfortunately, this is not today’s reality, and discrepancies in care can depend largely on who you are. As Minority Health Month draws to a close, we’re talking with Madhyatu Taylor, of NCQA’s Quality Solutions Group. She is principal project manager for the Health Equity ...
Apr 30, 2019•14 min•Ep. 24
