Catching up with SmartRise Health

Thank you for your ongoing support of SmartRise Health.

Three years ago, I embarked on a mission—a deeply personal quest that ignited the spark for SmartRise Health. It was a calling born from my own experiences navigating the labyrinth of healthcare systems, witnessing the gaps, the hurdles, and the profound need for transformative change. The vision was clear: to redefine healthcare accessibility, to empower individuals to take charge of their well-being, and to create a platform that merges cutting-edge technology with compassionate care.

Today, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for each milestone, every challenge overcome, and most importantly, for the unwavering support of our community.

At the core of SmartRise Health has always been a commitment to inclusivity and empowerment. We've strived relentlessly to break barriers and ensure that quality healthcare resources are within everyone's reach. Whether it's leveraging innovative telemedicine solutions or fostering a supportive community, our goal remains resolute—to make health management seamless, proactive, and empowering.

What's the Latest on SmartRise Health? In case you’re new to SmartRise, we're a consultancy that partners with individuals, health systems, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), health insurers, drug and device manufacturers, and technology companies on health equity, value-based care, population health, and quality improvement programs. SmartRise brings extensive experience in value and incentive payments, helping healthcare and community organizations integrate competencies to empower patients to prioritize their health, and improve access to the right care at the right time.

We’re excited about our first newsletter edition and look forward to sharing new updates with you throughout the year.

Looking ahead, our vision remains steadfast—to continue innovating, to amplify our impact, and to evolve alongside the dynamic landscape of healthcare. As I express my heartfelt gratitude for the trust you've placed in us, I also extend an invitation. Let's continue this transformative journey together. Let's shape the future of healthcare, one empowered decision at a time.

Thank you for being an integral part of SmartRise Health's story.

With Gratitude,

Vanessa

What's the Latest on SmartRise Health?

In case you’re new to SmartRise, we're a consultancy that partners with individuals, health systems, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), health insurers, drug and device manufacturers, and technology companies on health equity, value-based care, population health, and quality improvement programs.

SmartRise brings extensive experience in value and incentive payments, helping healthcare and community organizations integrate competencies to empower patients to prioritize their health, and improve access to the right care at the right time.

We’re excited about our first newsletter edition and look forward to sharing new updates with you throughout the year.

Health Equity Services

We are constantly evolving to meet the needs of the individuals, customers, and communities we serve. We recently added some new services and wanted to share them with you.

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, ensuring equitable access and high-quality care for all patients  is both a moral imperative and a strategic necessity. SmartRise Health echoes the Institute for Healthcare  Improvement’s (IHI) maxim, “there is no quality without equity,” as we partner with healthcare  organizations in their Health Equity journey. In 2023, SmartRise Health was engaged by Health Plans and  ACO’sin Massachusetts to support their efforts to achieve National Committee for Quality Assurance  (NCQA) Health Equity Accreditation, adhere to new requirements and receive associated incentives. 

NCQA has taken a leading role in foundational Health Equity criteria by offering HE Accreditation as a model  for promoting Health Equity across multiple domains. And, as requirements and incentives grow in states  like Massachusetts and across the state and federal landscape, SmartRise Health expects interest in and  commitment to HE Accreditation to grow in 2024 and beyond.  

At SmartRise Health, we designed a Health Equity Accreditation roadmap to reduce health disparities within  a model that integrates value-based care and change management concepts to drive health equity. The  framework uses stakeholder engagement and quality improvement methodologies as key components to  build the infrastructure necessary to drive change over time. Since its evolution in 2020 focused on  supporting COVID-19 safety and engagement protocols, the framework has been used successfully across  diverse constituencies, including payers, policymakers (CMS, NCQA, ONC), provider networks, hospital  systems, community-based organizations, and pharmaceutical companies looking to promote equitable  access to care through NCQA accreditation and beyond. 

Our Health Equity Accreditation platform promotes a framework and content over the course of 15 months  to 3 years to successfully achieve NCQA Health Equity Accreditation and improve awareness and implement  activities to reduce and eliminate health disparities and promote equity activities using the model below: 

• Awareness—increased awareness of the significance of health disparities, their impact on the nation,  and the actions necessary to improve health outcomes for racial, ethnic, and underserved populations. 

• Leadership—Strengthen and broaden leadership for addressing health disparities at all levels. 

• Health System and Life Experience— Measurably improve health and healthcare outcomes for racial,  ethnic, and underserved populations. 

• Data and Evaluation—Improve data availability and coordination, utilization, and diffusion of findings  and evaluation outcomes. 

• Identification, selection, and education of team members on evidence-based or evidence-informed  health equity and health disparity performance metrics, measure technical specifications, goal setting,  and monitoring of measurable performance improvement.

Here at SmartRise, we have the pleasure of working with Health Equity leaders across the industry.  Here’s a series of themes we’re hearing across our conversations. 

• Quality executives have increasing responsibility for health equity, despite lack of time and  experience on topic. 

• Health equity work requires bottom-up and top-down leadership, strategy, and capacity.

• M&A activity makes it challenging to coordinate and grow siloed equity initiatives.

• Traditional leadership development and retention efforts fall flat. 

Sound familiar? Our solution is Health Equity Learning Collaborative and Fellowship programs. 

These are 12-to-15-month programs for clinical and administrative employees, designed to create  community, facilitate organizational learning, and drive value for organizations and care  professionals. 

By integrating Health Equity, Process & Quality Improvement, and Leadership Training into a blended  curriculum, the Learning Collaboratives and Fellowships prepare future leaders. Participants receive  one-on-one coaching, and work towards addressing inequities, such as chronic disease management,  maternal & child health, preventive screening uptake, and other pertinent topics. Similarly, Learning  Collaboratives offer similar structures, but leverage teams, rather than individuals. 

“The Health Equity Fellowship Program has been an invaluable experience for me, shaping my perspective and enhancing my skills in ways that extend far beyond the immediate scope of the program.” - Current Fellow