Unite Us Releases Framework to Improve Quality Measures

As the 2022 ratings are released, Unite Us offers best practices framework and webinar to help health plans improve quality measures for the coming year.

NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Unite Us, the cross sector collaboration software company connecting health and social care, has launched a five-step framework to provide guidance for health plans to implement effective health equity and social determinants of health (SDoH) programs.

This framework fulfills the need for health plans to launch new capabilities and innovations to address the increasing government focus on health equity and SDoH in relation to quality measures. The Unite Us team’s experience and expertise provides a clear path forward for those committed to satisfying these changing standards.

Unite Us will walk through the framework, Integrating Social Care Services to Improve Quality Performance, in detail during a free webinar at 2:00 p.m. EST on Thursday Oct. 20, hosted by Unite Us experts Natalie Mueller, Senior Policy Manager, and Spencer Pratt, VP of Market Solutions. You can RSVP here.

This guidance comes at a crucial time, with the release of 2022 quality ratings and changes to quality measures announced for 2023 and beyond. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and Medicaid state programs emphasize the importance of addressing disparities and social care needs to improve care delivery and outcomes. Unite Us provides a playbook to help health plans adapt quality programs and implement the right data, measurements, and reporting tools to meet increasing focus on these recommendations.

To meet the new requirements and confidently navigate the future of healthcare, plans will need to identify the social needs impacting their membership, build tailored interventions, and demonstrate the impact interventions have had on member and population health.

Investing in SDoH as preventative care has proven to reduce health disparities, improve member outcomes, and reduce the need for high-cost healthcare utilization and crisis intervention, which can have a significant impact on health plans’ financial performance. But most health plans don’t have the workflows in place to build community connections or track metrics to meet health equity requirements.

Since its founding in 2013, Unite Us has built the only comprehensive, end-to-end solution that supports health plans to coordinate care and track outcomes. Unite Us’ Social Needs System (SNS) is specifically designed to deliver these capabilities, and has been recognized by CMS in the 2023 Medicare Advantage Announcement in its guidance on Medicare Advantage Star Ratings and risk adjustment.

“As a member of NCQA’s Health Equity Expert Work Group, it is great to see the growing emphasis on health equity and enhanced commitment of government and health plan leaders to address disparities in the communities they serve,” said Eric Beane, VP of Regulatory and Government Affairs. “The Unite Us team has been preparing for this moment and brings deep expertise and experience to offer support to health plans. We’re eager to share our knowledge and best practices to help insurers navigate these new requirements.”

To learn more about the Unite Us, visit https://uniteus.com/solutions/health-plans/.