The Collaboration Plan documents how Minnesota Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) will contribute to achieving high priority public health goals, per Minnesota Statute 62Q.075.
About the 2020 Collaboration Plan
For this iteration of the plan, we are highlighting collaborative projects that health plans have or are currently working on in the identified public health priority areas. By giving example of these collaborations, we hope to inspire new partnerships with local public health across the state.
To identify the public health priorities, the health plans reviewed the Minnesota Department of Health’s Community Health Assessment, local public health Community Health Assessments, and worked with the Metro Center for Community Health, a collaboration of local public health, hospitals and health plans. Some of these priorities remain the same as the previous Collaboration Plan, such as reducing tobacco use and increasing physical activity. The Collaboration Plan highlights several projects that address these priorities. Since the previous Collaboration Plan, mental health and the social determinants of health have risen to the top for local public health agencies across the state.
The Collaboration Plan provides examples of a few projects in these new priorities. These highlighted projects take different forms and address health through various vehicles. For example, some of the projects may use upstream approaches to address an issue through a health plan’s benefit set while others may initiate programming work in partnership with county or local public health. We know there is room to grow in these areas and look forward to further collaboration on these topics and will expand on this Plan as projects develop over the next five years.
As a note, while we highlight certain services and programs our health plans offer, the Collaboration Plan largely steers clear of listing the array of benefits and services our plans pay for that address public health, well-being, chronic disease, and social determinants of health. However, we know this is important information for our members to access the services that help them become and remain healthy (and for our partners to help support our communities in that effort). Information about benefits offered by each health plan is available on their websites.
The 2020 Collaboration Plan spans five years and runs through 2025. The Collaboration Plan website is updated annually so that all information remains current.
We know that health inequities in Minnesota exist. They prevent people from living a life of well-being. And they also contribute to higher health care costs. We also know that making sure everyone has what they need to be healthy can’t be solved by any one community, industry, or sector. We can’t make people healthier all on our own. This is why we value our work with others in the community and invest in programs that aim to reduce health disparities.
However, as health plans, we are also addressing inequity in health in four key ways:
- Creating and supporting a diverse workforce within our organizations. This includes increasing training and education to existing staff, recruiting a diverse workforce, and developing a supportive work environment to help maintain a diverse staff.
- Increasing access to culturally and linguistically appropriate care. We do this through programs such as investment in interpreters; providing materials in other languages to our members; and, creating processes to make is easier for all of our members to take advantage of complaint, grievance, and appeals processes.
- Improving quality of care. Work in this area encompasses offering cultural competency training for provider; addressing cultural needs through quality improvement initiatives; and considering race and language when conducting data analysis for program improvement.
- Collaborating to share best practices and move the needle on health disparities. We do this through the Council’s Health Equity Committee, which meets monthly to develop strategies to reduce health disparities and promote health equity through collective action.
Health plans provide data to support a number of initiatives across the state. We welcome the opportunity to explore how we can better use data to improve the health of Minnesotans. Some existing data sources we currently support include:
Minnesota Community Measurement (MNCM) provides publicly available information on health care quality, cost, and patient experience.
Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures, developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), provide data by health plans about the quality of care, access to care, and member satisfaction with health plans and providers.
Minnesota Statewide Quality Reporting and Measurement System (SQRMS) is a standardized set of quality measures for health care providers across the state.
We also compile Medicare, Medicaid, and other available data to help people better understand how conversations in Washington, D.C. and St. Paul, MN impact care at a local county and regional level.
| Health Plan | Name | |
| Minnesota Council of Health Plans | Chelsea Georgesen | georgesen@mnhealthplans.org |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | Pam Teske | pam.teske@bluecrossmn.com |
| Health Partners | Sarah Brown | sarah.l.brown@healthpartners.com |
| Hennepin Health | Chelsea Trcka | chelsea.trcka@hennepin.us |
| Medica | Kathy Albrecht | kathleen.albrecht@medica.com |
| Sanford Health Plan | Dylan Wheeler | dylan.wheeler@sanfordhealth.org |
| UCare | Annie Halland | ahalland@ucare.org |
