Twelve health systems across Massachusetts will receive grant funding to improve equity of care and race, ethnicity, and language data collection practices.
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has awarded $16.5 million in Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA)-funded grants to Atrius Health, Boston Medical Center, Baycare Health Partners, Boston Children’s Hospital, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Mass General Brigham, Reliant Medical Group, SoNE Health, South Shore Health, Southcoast Health, Steward, and Tufts Medicine Integrated Health.
These groups are all participants in BCBSMA’s Alternative Quality Contract (AQC), which was introduced in 2009.
A wide range of projects will be funded, including efforts to reduce disparities in hypertension and diabetes care; accelerate equity in cancer screening; expand implicit bias training for staff; and improve organizational data collection practices to ensure changes are transparent, measurable and actionable over time.
The grants are part of a commitment made by BCBSMA in December 2021 to provide $25 million in funding, distributed by IHI, to support AQC physician practices and hospitals in an Equity Action Community. That community was formed last fall by IHI and BCBSMA to foster shared learning across institutions and measurable improvement in the equity of patient care in Massachusetts. Initial funding totaling $3 million was made available to provider groups to support participation in the community. Additional funding will be granted in coming months to smaller provider groups that participate in the community.
“It is extremely rare for a health plan to support health systems in such a tangible way, and we commend BCBSMA for their bold leadership to challenge the status quo and improve health equity,” said Kedar Mate, M.D., president and CEO of IHI, in a statement. “This funding will catalyze health systems and enable them to build crucial infrastructure to advance equity, remove barriers to getting the work done, and open up new avenues for innovation.”
“Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is committed to collaborating with clinicians to support health equity efforts,” said Mark Friedberg, M.D., the not-for-profit health plan’s senior vice president, performance measurement and improvement, in a statement. “This includes giving AQC provider groups data on their equity performance, technical assistance in equity improvement via the Equity Action Community, and now this significant investment in equity improvement capabilities, which begins our movement toward value-based contracts with incentives for improved equity in care in 2023 and beyond.”
The 12 grant awardees were selected by the IHI Grant Review Committee, comprised of national leaders in health equity and equitable grant-making as well as community members. Project proposals were scored based on their focus on reducing inequities in clinical care, feasibility, sustainability, and impact on equity and anti-racism.
