CHIA Releases First Dashboard to Measure the Health of the Massachusetts Primary Care System

DATE: January 25, 2023

The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA), in collaboration with Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP), is releasing Massachusetts’ first-ever dashboard of metrics to monitor the health of the primary care system in the Commonwealth. 

A high-functioning primary care system can lead to better patient outcomes, lower costs, and more equitable care. Adequate access to primary care may also reduce unnecessary reliance on emergency department visits. Health care leaders have expressed concern about the health and sustainability of primary care in Massachusetts, especially as the larger health care community addresses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

CHIA and MHQP developed this dashboard to create a factual foundation to support policy initiatives. This primary care dashboard will track the key areas of finance, capacity, performance, and equity.

The dashboard measures the health of primary care along four domains:

• Finance – metrics focused on spending for primary care services 
  
  
• Capacity – metrics focused on the primary care workforce and pipeline 
  
  
• Performance – metrics focused on access and care  
  
  
• Equity – metrics focused on assessing inequities in the primary care system 

As demonstrated by metrics from this year’s dashboard, low investment, diminishing capacity, and disparities in access highlight gaps in the Massachusetts primary care system.

The dashboard provides baseline data for each metric, with plans to track additional measures in future iterations. 

Please visit CHIA's Massachusetts Primary Care Dashboard web page to see key findings from this year’s metrics.

For more information on CHIA’s efforts to monitor primary care spending in Massachusetts, please see CHIA’s report measuring primary care and behavioral health expenditures published in September 2022.