From Susan

As client needs increase, MHR is keeping pace by adding two new persons to our team, Tiffany Johnson, Virtual Assistant, and Erin Kafieh, RN, Healthcare Consultant.  Read more about them below under Meet.

As mentioned last month, Sonia Frazier and I are thrilled to be presenting on NCQA’s Health Equity standards at the Health Plan Alliance

Fly-In Conference in Irving, Texas, scheduled for August 21 and 22, 2023.

On October 23-25, 2023, I will be at NCQA’S HEALTH INNOVATION SUMMIT in Orlando, Florida, and will be hosting a dinner for MHR clients on October 24. Please send me an email and let me know if you plan to attend.

Be sure to read MHR’s latest Blogs and Quality Insights, where we offer information on topics pertinent to NCQA Accreditation.  

Do you have a question, or are you ready for a Discovery Call to learn more about MHR? We have been in business for over 32 years and are experts in our field of consulting on NCQA Accreditation and Certification.

Contact me to see how we can help you.

Susan K. Moore, President & CEO

MEET

Tiffany Johnson joins the MHR Administrative Team as a Virtual Assistant with over 14 years of experience providing comprehensive support to executives and teams across diverse industries. Tiffany lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Erin Kafieh is a Registered Nurse with more than 26 years of experience in NCQA accreditation with all product lines. Her expertise includes file review standards for Utilization Management Denials and Appeals, Credentialing, LTSS, and Case Management. She has been an NCQA surveyor since December 2022.  Erin joined Managed Healthcare Resources in July 2023 as an independent Healthcare Consultant. Erin lives in a rural mountain community in California.

Read more about Tiffany and Erin on our website.

NEWS

Summer Changes to (NCQA) Accred, Cert Programs Will Spread

Non-Hispanic Black Adults Have Higher Rates of Disability Due to Arthritis, Diabetes, Hypertension Than Non-Hispanic White Adults

How Health Plans Could Improve Collection of Race Ethnicity Data | Commonwealth Fund

Health Insurance Providers Actions Concerning Mental Health

Digital Therapeutics for Management and Treatment in Behavioral Health

 Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model

Sanitas Health Offers Culturally-Relevant Mental Healthcare for Communities of Color

Potential Usefulness of Apps and Other Digital Technologies for Improving Access to Behavioral Health in Primary Care

Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker

Social Needs Screening Among Non-Federal Acute Care Hospitals, 2022

The Next Big Thing: Healthy Food is Healthy Care

UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS

August 21-22, 2023

Fly-In:  Health Equity & NCQA HE Accreditation

Health Plan Alliance

• Irving, TX

September 11-13, 2023

NAHQ Next™

National Association for Healthcare Quality®

• Virtual

September 13-14, 2023

Consumer Experience & Digital Health Forum

AHIP

• Nashville, TN

September 13, 2023

The Evolution of Mental Health Research

NIMH

• Virtual symposium

September 27, 2023

Social Determinants of Health: Moving Beyond Data to Action

AHIP

• Webinar

September 25-27, 2023

Value Visit: Clinical Excellence and the Member Experience

Health Plan Alliance

• Chicago, IL

September 27-28, 2023

Activate2023

Designing Consumer Journeys for Health Equity

• Minneapolis, MN

October 3-5, 2023

28^th Case Management Conference Annual

National Association of Case Management

• New Orleans, LA

October 15-17, 2023

The 13^th Annual HEDIS® & Quality Improvement Summit

RISE

• New Orleans

October 17, 2023

Risk Adjustment Gets Useable Data At Last

AHIP

• Webinar

October 23-25, 2023

NCQA Health Innovation Summit

NCQA

• Orlando, FL

October 25-26, 2023

PHA Innovation Summit

Population Health Alliance

• Washington, D.C.

CALENDAR OF OBSERVANCES

Month Awareness Calendar for Population Health Management Activity Ideas

August

National Breastfeeding Month

National Immunization Awareness Month

September

National Suicide Prevention Month

October

National Bullying Prevention Month

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Healthcare Quality Week (10/15-10/21/2023)

November

Great American Smoke Out (11/16/2023)

December

World Aids Day (12/1)

QUALITY INSIGHTS

New from NCQA!

Just released from NCQA are NCQA’s Policy Updates from July 31, 2023. 

Have a question for NCQA?

NCQA’s list of Frequently Asked Questions can be searched by accreditation program. 

Are you working on a Qualitative Analysis? Be sure to include roles and titles of all participants involved in the analysis.  Only names of departments or teams are not acceptable.

For elements with a frequency of annual, a grace period applies after the 12 months and would extend to 14 months. NCQA does not allow a minus 2 month grace period.

Remember that when receiving authorization requests from providers such as a lab or DME company, UM denial letters must also be addressed to the attending or treating practitioner.