Report: Healthcare Quality Improving, but Not at Pre-Pandemic Levels

August 31, 2023

Healthcare quality is improving in Minnesota, but not at the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report released August 31 by MN Community Measurement (MNCM).  

The Minnesota Health Care Quality Report Part 1: Clinical Quality Measures Reported by Medical Groups includes information about trends for measures of healthcare quality, including asthma, depression, diabetes, heart disease, and colorectal cancer screening. The report includes data on statewide averages and trends, along with variation across medical groups and regions. Data on quality performance by specific medical groups and clinics is included in detailed appendices. 

The new results come from data reported to MNCM in 2023, covering services received by patients in 2022. The report includes a total of 20 measures (11 for adults, and nine for children and adolescents). Report highlights include: 

• Statewide rates for six quality measures improved in 2022, including diabetes care, mental health screening for adolescents, follow-up for depression care, and the use of specific tools for assessing symptoms in people who have depression. 

• Statewide rates for 12 quality measures worsened in 2022, including for colorectal cancer screening, adult depression remission and response one year after diagnosis, optimal vascular care, and optimal asthma control for children. 

• Statewide performance for many measures remains below pre-pandemic levels. For example, the rate of optimal vascular care for adults in 2022 was 5.0 percentage points below the rate for 2019 (55.3 percent vs 60.3 percent). For children, there was a 5.0 percentage point gap between the rate of optimal asthma care in 2022 vs. 2019 (53.5 percent compared to 58.3 percent). 

• Statewide rates of colorectal cancer screening declined substantially in 2022 (from 72.2 percent to 67.8 percent). In part, this decrease was because the age group for whom screening is recommended expanded to include people aged 45 to 49. Even without the expansion of the population included in this measure, however, the rate would still have decreased by a statistically significant amount in 2022. 

“This report is a call to action that we need to pay sustained attention to improving healthcare quality in Minnesota,” said Julie Sonier, MNCM President and CEO. “We know the healthcare system is still recovering from the financial and staffing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that certainly doesn’t make it easy. But even just getting back to where we were before the pandemic – which itself had a lot of room for improvement – would improve care and outcomes for tens of thousands of Minnesotans.” 

The report includes performance data for approximately 117 medical groups that operate more than 750 clinics in Minnesota and border communities in neighboring states.