Fostering Innovation in Health Equity

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"No other large payer has prioritized racial equity and quality using financial incentives with robust technical assistance," Hector Rodriguez, professor of health policy and management at Berkeley's School of Public Health, says of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

That's the takeaway from a new study that found the state's largest nonprofit health plan and clinicians in its network are finding new ways to address racial inequities in care for black and Latino patients, the Boston Globe reports.

"What Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is doing is really innovative," Rodriguez says.

"It has not been shy about making investments that benefit the greater good of a group and other payers' patients as well as their own."

To that end, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts 2021, launched in 2021, provided $25 million in infrastructure-building grant money to 12 health care organizations, all of which take part in the health plan's value-based payment model designed to eliminate racial and ethnic inequities in health care.

The study synthesized 44 interviews with participants in a learning collaborative where clinicians can share challenges and best practices, receive expert coaching, and test solutions.

Clinicians reported testing pilot projects aimed at reducing racial and ethnic disparities in breast cancer screening and colorectal cancer screening and hypertension and diabetes management, such as community health worker

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