North Carolina State Transformation Collaborative

Logos with text reading Building Partnerships for Better Health: Launching North Carolina's State Transformation Collaborative

Background

The State Transformation Collaborative is a joint public-private initiative designed to advance value-based and person-centered care by building partnerships to advance health for all. North Carolina is one of four states—along with Colorado, California, and Arkansas—to be selected to participate in this groundbreaking initiative operated by the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network. With federal engagement, state leadership, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, North Carolina’s State Transformation Collaborative provides a unique opportunity to improve population health, enhance patient experience, reduce health care costs, and decrease administrative demands on health care providers, while simultaneously advancing health equity.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Health Benefits, the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network (LAN), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy launched the North Carolina’s State Transformation Collaborative during a public event on February 2, 2023. Click here to learn more and to visit the event webpage.

Read more about the NC STC Launch Event on February 2, 2023.

Read the Article

More about the Collaborative

Summary of Pre-STC Activities: Duke-Margolis completed preliminary interviews and convenings to identify priority areas for multi-stakeholder alignment in payment and delivery reforms. Duke-Margolis developed strategies and potential actions by combining stakeholder feedback with additional research on existing federal and state initiatives. Stakeholders included clinically integrated networks, NC Prepaid Health Plans, commercial payers/purchasers, primary care providers, federally-qualified health centers, and health systems. The image below summarizes the framework for North Carolina’s State Transformation Collaborative.

Potential Actions for Alignment within NC STC Strategies

Stakeholders described both short- and long-term actions to advance the goals of the STC and work towards improved health for North Carolinians. The potential short-term actions listed below could be implemented through an agreed-upon set of concrete steps over the course of 2023.

Strategy #1: Strengthen Accountable and Coordinated Primary Care

Proposed Long-term Goal: Develop and implement primary care value-based payment models in North Carolina designed to reduce inefficiencies and administrative costs through a two-pronged, evidence-based approach: greater primary care investment from payers, and a glidepath to value-based payment that encourages diverse provider participation.

Potential Short-term Actions:

Reduce provider administrative burden
Support transitions to value-based care

Strategy #2: Align Quality Measurement

Proposed Long-term Goal: Focus on aligning on current quality measures where persistent disparities exist in order to chart a pathway for future work to modify priority measures and incorporate new measures.

Potential Short-term Actions:

Focus on aligning quality measures across key population groups
Promote accountability for disparities reduction

Strategy #3: Enhance Health Equity Data

Proposed Long-term Goal: Apply a valid and reliable set of aligned health equity data to identify disparities and drive multi-stakeholder collaboration to reduce gaps in services and improve clinical outcomes.

Potential Short-term Actions:

Improve current health equity data accuracy, validation and interoperability
Standardize data from the point of collection and provide training for those collecting the data (e.g., for race, ethnicity & language data)

Cross-Cutting Strategy: Improve Data Infrastructure

Proposed Long-term Goal: Stakeholders highlighted that improvements in data infrastructure are also necessary to support these potential short-term actions and long-term goals across all strategies. Enhancing data quality and aligning on standards and key elements for collection and exchange would promote movement toward a digital, real-time coordinated health system. Advancing the Health Information Exchange (HIE) will also be critical in achieving this goal.

Potential Short-term Actions:

Improve data interoperability
Ensure data quality

Stakeholder Engagement Opportunities through NC STC: If you are interested in learning about stakeholder involvement opportunities within the Collaborative, or would like additional information, please complete the form below.

Keep up to date with North Carolina's State Transformation Collaborative

Join the Collaborative's Newsletter: The Collaborative will send out regular newsletters to keep stakeholders updated on recent achievements and developments. If you would like to hear the latest news from the NC STC, subscribe to the newsletter here.

Newsletter Archive: Read the latest issues of the Collaborative's newsletter below:

February 2023 Meeting Summary

Spring 2023

Fall 2023

If you are interested in joining the Collaborative, would like to speak to someone with the collaborative, or would like additional information, please complete the form below and someone will be in touch with you shortly.

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