Multipayer Primary Care Network Webinars

The Effectiveness of Policies to Improve Primary Care Access for Underserved Populations

July 2022

Authors Maanasa Kona, JD, and Megan Houston, MPH, of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms presented their Milbank Memorial Fund report and additional findings in subsequent case studies on primary care access for underserved populations (i.e., low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, rural). They discussed the impact of different initiatives and how they addressed each of the “Five As”: availability, accessibility, accommodation, affordability, acceptability. The authors provided information about two of their five case studies (Grant County, New Mexico, and Baltimore City, Maryland) and summarized which initiatives were proving to be effective in those locations.

Review the slides.

Watch the recording.

Exploring Approaches to Incorporate Behavioral Health into Care Programs

April 2021

In this seminar, we hear how three organizations are integrating behavioral health services into primary care practices and creating collaborative care models that bridge the gap across fragmented care. Behavioral health integration is a team-based transformation to primary care, not solely the addition of a specialized clinician to a practice. Stakeholder coordination, communication, and cultural change management are among the key drivers to successfully integrating behavioral health services into health practices. This session features speakers from Arkansas Behavioral Health Integration Network, Care Transformation Collaborative of Rhode Island, and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Review summary and takeaways.

Watch the recording.

Understanding Payer Actions During COVID-19

February 2021

In December 2020, Milbank Memorial Fund conducted its second survey of its network of payers to understand how payers reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically with regard to their relationships with primary care practices. In this webinar, we explored findings from the survey analysis conducted by Mathematica and discussed payers’ changes to telehealth policies, quality and reporting requirements, payment mechanisms, and much more.

Review Key Survey Findings

Review Survey Analysis (Abridged)

Review Survey Analysis (Full)

Watch the recording.

Identifying and Addressing Social Determinants of Health

January 2021

Community-based organizations are utilizing new tools and platforms to better identify and address patients’ social needs. We know social determinants of health, such as access stable housing, food security, and others, can have a significant impact on a patient’s health; while clinical care is estimated to constitute 20% of the modifiable contributors of health, socio-economic, behavioral, and environmental factors constitute the remainder. In this seminar, we hear from organizations across the US and their experiences integrating new tools, such as AuntBertha and Healthify, into their workflow so patients receive appropriate referrals to local organizations based on their unique needs identified. Featured organizations include the Idaho Health Data Exchange, Kootenai Health, The Health Collaborative, CareSource, and MyHealth Access.

Review summary and takeaways

Review AHC’s Project Overview – Route 66 Consortium

Review The Health Generation GEN-H Connect slides

Review Idaho Health Exchange’s Spotlight on Social Needs slides

Watch the recording.

Enhancing Patient and Community Engagement

October 2020

Oregon implemented a statewide accountable care model in 2012 with the launch of CCOs. CCOs are partnerships of payers, providers, and community organizations that work at the community level to provide coordinated health care for children and adult Oregon Health Plan Enrollees. Local networks of participating healthcare providers receive a global budget to serve enrollees. The legislation that created CCOs also required these networks to create at least one community advisory council (CAC) to integrate community and OHP member voices in their work. State agencies and healthcare systems are increasingly seeing the value in engaging consumers not only to direct patient care, but also to guide organizational decisions about that care to drive progress on improving health outcomes and stabilizing health costs. (See case study for additional information)

Review summary and takeaways

Review NCQA’s slides

Review Oregon Health Authority & Community Catalyst’s slides

Watch the recording.

Maryland Primary Care Program

March 2020

Howard Haft, MD, and Chad Perman, MPP, of the Maryland Department of Health joined the Multipayer Primary Care Network for a timely discussion on the development of the Maryland Primary Care Program and their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They discussed this unique federal–state partnership and the initial goals of the program which included expanding access to care, enhancing practices’ telemedicine capabilities, reaching vulnerable populations, supporting practices through Collaborative Care, and developing and using tools to identify patients most in need of care. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, they also discussed how their program has prepared practices for providing telehealth and using the program’s tools to identify and assist patients most at risk. Additionally, they shared the specifics of their COVID-19 response which include daily webinars for providers to receive information and resources and have their questions answered to best treat their population.

Review the slides.

Watch the recording.

Aligned Quality Measures – Consensus in New York State

February 2020

The Multipayer Primary Care Network was joined by panel members Amy Tippett-Stangler of the Northeast Business Group on Health, Pooja Kothari of the United Hospital Fund of New York, NY State Department of Health leaders Marcus Friedrich and Lindsay Cogan, and Robert LaPenna of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield as they discussed the ongoing challenges in multipayer collaboration, coming to an agreement on a how to credibly measure quality in health care while minimizing the burden placed on practices and payers. They spoke on specific aspects of the development and use of the New York State Primary Care Core Measure Set and mechanisms of through which collaboration was established between the health plans in order to achieve this success.

See the presentation slides here.

Watch the recording here.

Rhode Island’s Affordability Standards

January 2020

Cory King, Director of Policy, Rhode Island Office of Health Insurance Commission joined the Multipayer Primary Care Network to share the work of the Rhode Island Office of Health Insurance Commission over the past decade as they created affordability standards for health insurers. He discussed the stages of implementation of these standards and the future directions of reform, including sustainable funding for primary care, a transition towards the integration of behavioral health into primary care, continued reform of payment models.

IMPaCT – a Model for CHW that Improves Health Outcomes and Addresses SDOH

November 2019

Dr. Kangovi joined the Multipayer Primary Care Network to discuss IMPaCT, a model for Community Health Workers from The Penn Center for Community Health Workers. She discussed some of the common pitfalls that other CHW models have fallen victim to, including hiring problems that lead to high turnover rates, a lack of standardized program infrastructure, and the creation of disease specific programs. With these pitfalls in mind, IMPaCT was designed using high-risk patient input and as a result, has been scientifically proven to improve primary care access and patient reported quality, as well as reduce total hospital stays. IMPaCT uses a specialized hiring algorithm that hires CHW based on quality traits as well as credentials and provides their CHW with the training, resources, and support they need to manage their case loads and collaborate with healthcare teams. This approach allows their CHW to better serve their patients and address the SDOH that many high-risk patients face.

See the presentation slides here.

Multi-Payer Alignment in Primary Care First

November 2019

Emily Johnson from CMS joined this special Multipayer Primary Care Network webinar to present information on multipayer alignment, an essential element of the Primary Care First Initiative.  She described four core principles (moving away from fee-for-service, rewarding outcomes instead of process, the delivery of meaningful data reports to boost performance improvement, and driving adoption of value-based care models through multipayer alignment).  Her detailed presentation provides payers with the opportunity to understand how CMS will be approaching the principles laid out in the PCF model, and how payers can potentially align their strategies accordingly.

See the presentation slides here.

Watch the recording here.

Advancing the Integration of Behavioral Health in Primary Care

October 2019

Dr. Claire Neely, President and CEO of ICSI describes the approach used by the Minnesota Health Collaborative to advance the integration of behavioral health in primary care. The collaborative has supported organizations in making structural improvements which allowed for the adoption of Integrated Behavioral Health. They also adopted a strategy for sustainable integration that includes improving knowledge and reducing stigma, collaborating with groups to achieve better financial coverage of behavioral health services, and increasing the availability and accessibility of behavioral health providers. Through their work they have demonstrated a commitment to improving care and ease of access to behavioral health services and providing better support for care teams.

See the presentation slides here

Integrated Housing Support for Seniors and the Disabled

August 2019

Nancy Rockett Eldridge and Stefani Hartsfield of The National Well Home Network described the accomplishments of a population based, integrated care management system model, Support and Services at Home (SASH) in Vermont. Through partnerships between health care providers, payers, housing and home- and community-based services, this model achieved improved quality of care and a reduction in both Medicare and Medicaid spending by addressing the social determinants of health that have historically inhibited the achievement of effective health outcomes among this community. Based upon the success of this model, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has now launched the Integrated Wellness in Supporting Housing (IWISH) demonstration in seven states at 40 locations.

Innovative Mobile Screening for Social Determinants of Health

July 2019

MyHealth is a nonprofit coalition of Oklahoma health providers who are using technology to link medical providers, exchange timely information, and improve the delivery of local health care. MyHealth Access Network in Tulsa, Oklahoma is using mobile screening delivered via text messaging to get information about patient risk factors at the time of a primary care office visit or emergency room visit. Hear how the tool was developed and approved for use and about its impact. Presented by Jennifer Faries of Oklahoma’s MyHealth Access.

CPC+ Data Feedback Tool (DFT) Demo

May 2019

In response to requests from many of Multi-State Collaborative, CMS and Milbank offered a demonstration of the CPC+ Data Feedback Tool (DFT), the data platform that it created for practices participating in CPC+. The DFT enables practices to view CPC+ performance data and includes dynamic functionality for practices to analyze their data, develop insights, and plan improvement activities. The tool displays performance compared to practices within and across regions, along with drilled-down information to provide details on the performance factors that drive variation.

This demonstration provided CPC+ payer partners the opportunity to understand the types of data and analytic capabilities that CPC+ practices receive from CMS, and how they align with payers’ own data reports and tools.

Primary Care First (CPC+ “Track 3”)

April 2019

The Milbank Memorial Fund Multi-State Collaborative held a webinar to discuss both Primary Care First (CPC+ “Track 3”) and Direct Contracting.  The conversations was joined by CPC+ staff members who shared their insights, and responded to comments and questions from the Multi-State Collaborative.

The Blueprint for Complex Care

March 2019

Mark Humowiecki and Lauran Hardin of the National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs described the Blueprint for Complex Care, a strategic plan to unite the broad set of individuals and organizations experimenting with innovative care models to improve care for individuals with complex health and psychosocial needs. They discussed how the Blueprint was developed and outline recommendations for expanding this important field, so relevant to high-quality primary care.

Integrating Behavioral Health in Primary Care – The Rhode Island Experience

February 2019

Debra Hurwitz and Pano Yeracaris from the Care Transformation Collaborative of Rhode Island (CTC-RI) describe their recently concluded three-year pilot program focused on integrating behavioral health in primary care practices. The model includes universal screening for depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder; a team member who is an onsite behavioral health clinician; and monthly team meetings with a clinical psychologist. This presentation walks through the qualitative study that shows a high degree of acceptance/satisfaction by primary care providers and improvements in patient outcomes. The RI all-payer claims database shows lower inpatient and emergency department utilization, and a lower total cost of care than in a comparison group.

See the presentation here.

Optimizing Mental Health in Advanced Primary Care: The Collaborative Care Model and Measurement-based Care

January 2019

Psychiatrist and advocate Henry Harbin, and health economist Michael Schoenbaum of the National Institute of Mental Health, discuss the efficacy and centrality of behavioral health access, tracking, and measurement in the CPC+.  Mental illness and substance use are major drivers of disability and costs. Effective treatments exist, but currently there are not enough specialty providers to provide the necessary care. By effectively integrating behavioral health care with primary care we can increase access to care, improve health outcomes, and lower costs.

See presentation slides here.

See Medicare Learning Network Fact Sheet here.

See New England Journal of Medicine article here.

See The Kennedy Forum article here.

See the Collaborative Care Model here.

CPC Classic Government, Commercial, and Medicare Advantage Population Outcomes in Ohio

November 2018

Richard F. Shonk, MD, PhD, of The Health Collaborative, shares the results of the extensive analysis of member outcomes from CPC Classic.  In contrast to the minimal impacts observed in Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, Dr. Shonk’s presentation describes the substantial increases in utilization, cost decreases in the participating Ohio payers’ commercial and Medicare Advantage populations, and the importance of looking at results across payer types when evaluating outcomes. Dr. Shonk and Dr. Laura Sessums recently published their findings in a Health Affairs Blog post, The Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative: Another Side of the Story.  This post provides their perspectives as physicians active in primary care transformation and offers insights gleaned in discussions with private payers and physicians who participated in CPC.

See the presentation slides here.

Data Aggregation, Feedback, & Quality Measurement Alignment: Supporting the CPC+ Model

October 2018

Guest speaker Craig Jones, MD, formerly the director of the Vermont Blueprint for Health, and now an independent consultant for Deloitte as well as with the Office of the National Coordinator at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is doing technical and cultural assessments of CPC+ regions’ information technology capacity, and has found some compelling and informative patterns.  He shared the important results of his multiple site visits and interviews.

See the presentation here.

See the discussion topics here.

Understanding the Role of the Patient-Centered Medical Home in Building a Strong Primary Care Foundation

September 2018

Dr. Johnson, Vice President for Enterprise Data & Analytics Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, presented a summary of her study on the BCBS Kansas City Medical Home Program. Her study, which is the basis of her doctoral dissertation, examines three important questions: 1) How do basic characteristics of medical homes and non-medical homes differ? 2) Does medical home implementation influence physician practice patterns? 3) Does medical home ownership influence total cost of care or utilization rates for high-cost services? Dr. Johnson and participants in the webinar discuss the implications this study has for building a strong primary care foundation and the potential roles that payers have in enhancing financial incentives, reducing administrative burdens, implementing benefit design that promote primary care, and focusing on accountable care agreements that move beyond primary care.

See the presentation slides here.

CPC+ Market Update Tool Webinar

May 2018

The results of the most recent CPC+ Market Update Tool indicate several payer milestones that are proving to be challenging to achieve, notably in data aggregation and in Track 2 payment.  We heard about strategies being used and progress being made in these areas in two CPC+ regions.

• Milestone 4 – Alternative Payment Model for Primary Care.
  • May Kjemperud and Josué Aguirre of CareOregon, one of the Oregon region’s payers, presented their approach to moving towards Track 2 payment.
• Milestone 6 – Data Support to Practices
  • Erik Muther, the convener for the Greater Philadelphia Area, shared their regional process and progress for data aggregation decision making and implementation.

Special Milbank CPC+ Webinar – Direct Provider Contracting

May 2018

The CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) released a Request for Information (RFI), seeking input on the concept of Direct Provider Contracting (DPC). The public comment period for this is quite brief, ending on May 25, 2018. This presents us with a critical and time-sensitive opportunity to inform the future focus of CMMI by sharing your organizations’ and personal opinions.

Several colleagues generously offered to share their experience and opinions about DPC in a panel presentation set up by the Fund, to be followed by an facilitated question and answer session.

Looking at Primary Care Spending

April 2018

Rachel Block, Milbank Memorial Fund Program Officer, and report co-author Mark Friedberg of the Rand Corporation will discuss the methods and findings of a study, published in 2017 by the Fund, on Standardizing the Measurement of Commercial Health Plan Primary Care Spending.

Strategies for Engaging Self-Insured Employers in Multi-Payer Primary Care Transformation

March 2018

Our colleagues from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Qiana Thomason, Vice President for Population Health Solutions, and Karen Johnson, Vice President for Healthcare Insights & Partnerships, share their experiences bringing their administrative services only lines of business into the CPC+ effort.

Interprofessional Education at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)

November 2017

UAMS faculty members Wendy Ward, Stephanie Gardner, Mark Jansen, and Kathryn Neill describe their groundbreaking innovative curriculum and its implementation.

See the presentation slides.

Click here and here for additional resources.

Patient and Caregiver Engagement in Primary Care Transformation

May 2017

The Multi-State Collaborative hosted a webinar featuring Diane Bechel-Marriott, DrPH, CPC+ Michigan Convener and Manager of Multipayer Initiatives at the University of Michigan, and Ann Greiner, President and CEO of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative. They discussed the role of patient and caregiver engagement in transforming primary care. Patient and caregiver engagement represents one of the five functions of CPC+. The others are access and continuity, care management, planned care and population health, and comprehensiveness and coordination.

• Bechel-Marriott discusses how Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) contribute to the CPC+ vision for comprehensive primary care by incorporating patient and caregiver perspectives that might not be obvious to the practice that can help to decrease barriers to engagement, and identify new ways to overcome challenges.  She describes the Michigan Primary Care Transformation Project (MiPCT) five-year multi-payer demonstration’s use of Patient and Family Advisory Councils at the practice level, and at the program level.
• Greiner outlines PCPCC patient engagement efforts with over 100,000 practices across the country through the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI). Patient-centered care is a concept that is gaining a foothold with practices, including those not enrolled in CPC+. Many are turning to best practices in patient engagement to shift their cultures and create stronger patient outcomes while strengthening the patient-clinician relationship.

Both Greiner and Bechel-Marriot explain how patients can become involved in practice design that leads to care that is more responsive to patient needs. They also highlight patient and clinician education as an important first step. While patient and caregiver engagement is only one of the five CPC Plus function domains, Bechel-Marriot notes its potential for benefiting the other four.

Go to the PCPCC’s TCPI  resource page, which provides free tools for practice transformation coaches and practices related to patient and family engagement. See Bechel-Marriot’s presentation slides here.

Lessons Learned from the Evaluation of the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative: Third Annual Report

April 2017

The Multi-State Collaborative (MC) hosted a webinar featuring researchers from Mathematica Policy Research. Erin Taylor, director of health research, Grace Anglin, researcher, and Debbie Peikes, senior fellow, discussed findings from the third annual evaluation report on the Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative, which ended in December 2016. They shared information about multi-payer collaboration and how payers can come together to support best practices in improving patient care.  The presenters also discussed lessons learned that could be applied to the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) initiative, which started its first of five years in January 2017.

(The webinar begins at the 2:50 mark; it is sound only.)

The webinar focuses on some of the challenges faced by CPC regions: aligning quality measures across payers (given that different payers may serve different enrolled populations); overcoming the unanticipated complexity of the process of payer data aggregation; and engaging self-insured payers in the region in transforming care delivery.

The speakers highlighted several lessons from CPC that payers may apply to CPC+ or other multi-payer initiatives:

• Involve as many payers as possible so signals to practices are aligned and support is substantial
• Engage self-insured clients early in the process and communicate regularly about the goals and progress of the initiative; payers that required participation of their self-insured clients in CPC (or at least required them to actively opt out of CPC) had more success than those using an opt-in policy
• Consider areas for collaboration, including aggregating data for performance feedback to practices, or at least aligning the measures presented in individual payer reports; aligning quality metrics across payers; and where possible, coordinating supports to practices
• Identify goals and set realistic timelines for collaboration activities
• Consider hiring a strong, neutral facilitator to support regional transformation efforts
• Coordinate as much as possible with other existing regional initiatives

Read CPC’s third annual evaluation report.

Data Aggregation, Analytics, and Reporting

March 2017

The Multi-State Collaborative (MC) hosted a webinar on data aggregation, analytics and reporting in multi-payer environments. David Jorgenson and Melanie Pinette of Onpoint Health Data shared their experiences developing and building data integration, analytics, and reporting systems in the Multi-Payer Advanced Primary Care Practice (MAPCP) demonstrations in Vermont and Rhode Island. The presentations were followed by a Q&A session facilitated by Lisa Dulsky Watkins, MC Director.  Read an additional resource with background information from the webinar presenters.