Key Measures of Minnesota Health Care Quality Improve, But Are Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

January 12, 2023

Nine Minnesota medical groups recognized as “top performers” for 2021

Two new reports illustrate health care quality trends and variation in Minnesota and recognize nine Minnesota medical groups as top performers on health care quality. The reports were released by MN Community Measurement (MNCM), an independent non-profit that serves as an objective, trusted source of information on Minnesota health care quality, cost, and equity.

The first report,  Minnesota Health Care Quality Report Part 2: Clinical Quality Measures Reported by Payers   , provides information on statewide and medical group performance on quality measures that MNCM aggregates from health plans. The second new report,  Minnesota Health Care Quality Report Part 3: Top Performing Medical Groups Across All Quality Measures  , combines these data with clinical quality measures published by MNCM in fall 2022 to identify top performing medical groups, defined as those with statistically better than average performance on at least half of the measures that were applicable to them. The previously published report can be accessed here.

New Data on Health Care Quality

The first new report, Minnesota Health Care Quality Report Part 2: Clinical Quality Measures Reported by Payers, includes quality indicators for preventive care like cancer screening and immunizations, and also for care of acute and chronic conditions. While the statewide performance rates for most measures improved in 2021 compared to 2020, for nearly all measures performance remains below pre-pandemic levels.

One exception to this trend was immunizations for adolescents, which measures the percentage of adolescents who have had specific immunizations by their 13 th birthday. The statewide rate for this measure climbed to 36.4 percent in 2021, up from 31.2 percent in 2018.

The measure for childhood immunization status, which measures whether children are up to date on ten different childhood vaccines by their second birthday, declined from 56.8 percent in 2020 to 53.0 percent in 2021. It is possible that care delivery disruptions in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 may have contributed to the decrease in this rate.

Across all measures, there is significant variation across medical groups in performance. The two measures with the largest variation across medical groups were Chlamydia Screening in Women (10.8 percent to 85.2 percent) and Avoidance of Antibiotic Treatment in Acute Bronchitis/Bronchiolitis (11.5 percent to 75.5 percent).

The report includes performance data for 172 medical groups that operate in Minnesota and border communities in neighboring states. Medical group and clinic level performance is also publicly available, with profile pages for all measures and an interactive Dynamic Tables tool that allows filtering and sorting of the data.

Health plans that contributed data for this report include Blue Cross Blue Shield of MN, HealthPartners, Hennepin Health, Itasca Medical Care, Medica, Preferred One, PrimeWest Health, Sanford Health, South Country Health Alliance, and UCare.

Top Performing Medical Groups

The second new report, Minnesota Health Care Quality Report Part 3: Top Performing Medical Groups Across All Quality Measures , identifies nine medical groups in Minnesota as top performers based on their overall quality performance in 2021. The nine top performing groups include:

  • CentraCare Health;
  • Central Pediatrics;
  • Child and Teen Medical Center;
  • Entira Family Clinics;
  • Essentia Health;
  • HealthPartners Clinics;
  • Mankato Clinic, Ltd.;
  • Park Nicollet Health Services; and
  • Pediatric & Young Adult Medicine

“It’s no small feat to achieve consistently high quality across a wide range of measures,” said Julie Sonier, MNCM President and CEO. “Recognition of these high performing medical groups is well deserved.”

Importance of Measurement

Measuring and reporting on health care quality helps consumers understand how care varies across providers, allows providers to identify improvement opportunities and how their measures compare to others, and helps health plans and other purchasers better understand and improve value for money that is spent on health care.

“Minnesota is unique in the capabilities that we’ve built to measure and report on health care outcomes,” said Sonier. “Having a common set of priorities and common set of data have been huge assets to our state in focusing efforts to drive improvement.”

About MN Community Measurement

MN Community Measurement is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering health care decision makers with meaningful data to drive improvement. A trusted source of health care data since 2005, MNCM works with doctors, hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, and state agencies to collect, analyze, and report health care data related to quality, cost, and equity of health care. Learn more at www.mncm.org.


Posted in Press Release

Recent Posts

By Jessica Donovan April 29, 2026
MN Community Measurement (MNCM) has released two new reports highlighting the state’s health care performance: Health Care in Minnesota: Summary Report on Quality, Disparities, and Cost and Health Care in Minnesota: Health Care Quality Leaders . Together, these reports provide a comprehensive analysis of 2024 data, examining trends in health care quality, disparities, and costs, while also recognizing medical group quality leaders and those demonstrating meaningful improvement. These reports, based on data submitted to MNCM in 2025 and reflecting care delivered in 2024, work in tandem with MNCM’s Performance Hub —an interactive platform providing statewide analyses of health care quality and cost measures. Collectively, these tools equip community partners, including medical groups, payers, policymakers, public health agencies, researchers, and community-based organizations, with actionable insights to drive improvements in care and advance health equity across Minnesota. Report highlights include: Health Care Quality Significant gaps remain in asthma control, with thousands of patients needing improved care to meet statewide benchmarks. Colorectal cancer screening rates for the newly eligible 45-49 age group continues to improve. While the 2024 rate for all age groups has significantly increased compared to 2023, it remains significantly lower than 2021. Childhood immunization continues to show a decrease in statewide rate from year to year. This measure has not shown improvement in rates following the COVID-19 pandemic. There were modest improvements in breast cancer screening, cervical cancer screening, controlling high blood pressure, diabetes eye exams, and immunizations for adolescents. Health Care Disparities Black, Indigenous, Multi-Race, and Hispanic/Latinx patients experienced the most disparities across multiple measures, particularly in Colorectal Cancer Screening. Patients speaking Somali and Spanish, as well as those from Laos, Mexico, and Somalia, had lower rates of preventive care and chronic disease management compared to statewide averages. Cost and Utilization The total cost of care increased by 7.3% in 2024, primarily driven by an 8.9% rise in pharmacy costs and an 8.3% rise in professional fees. All categories of medical services saw increased use, except for inpatient admissions. Women aged 36-64 had the highest number of claims, while men aged 18-35 had the lowest number of claims. Quality Leaders In 2024, 31 medical groups were recognized as quality leaders across the measures reported by medical groups. In 2024, 58 medical groups were recognized as quality leaders across the measures reported by payers. 
By Elizabeth Cinqueonce March 5, 2026
Aligning for Impact: Minnesota's Health Data Evolution A 2026 Leadership Series from the MNCM Board Chair & President
By Jessica Donovan January 21, 2026
CONNECTED THROUGH DATA: Uncovering Disparities in Cervical Cancer
By Jess Donovan, MPH, BSN October 21, 2025
This October marks the 40th anniversary of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime. Fortunately, however, early detection through screening and advances in treatment have decreased mortality by 44% since 1989. Screening can catch cancer early, when it is… The post Empowered by Data: Uncovering Screening Disparities and Reducing Breast Cancer Risk appeared first on MN Community Measurement.
By Jess Donovan, MPH, BSN September 30, 2025
September is Sexual Health Awareness Month. As we close out September, we’re highlighting two of the measures we report on – Cervical Cancer Screening and Chlamydia Screening in Women.   Cervical cancer, once one of the most common cancers affecting women in the United States, has significantly decreased since the 1970s. The reason for the decline… The post Empowered by Data: Spotlight on Screening for Sexual Health appeared first on MN Community Measurement.

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories