Enhance Engagement of Medicaid and Other Underserved Populations

To improve responsiveness of care for Medicaid and other underserved patients: use time-to-treat data (i.e., data measuring the time between clinician identifying a need for an appointment and the patient having a scheduled appointment) to identify patterns by which care or engagement with Medicaid patients or other groups of underserved patients has not achieved standard practice guidelines; and with this information, create, implement, and monitor an approach for improvement. This approach may include screening for patient barriers to treatment, especially transportation barriers, and providing resources to improve engagement (e.g., state Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation benefit).

Evidence of eligible clinicians tracking and improving timeliness of care delivered to patients from underserved populations, including those with Medicaid, through analysis and intervention. Include both of the following elements: 

1) Analysis of time-to-treat data – Report documenting analysis of trends and inequities in time-to-treat data, disaggregated by beneficiary type (to compare those with and without Medicaid benefits) and by other patient demographics such as race/ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or geography. Report should include possible explanations for the trends and inequities identified; AND

2) Implementation Plan and Results – Documentation of plans for activities to address inadequacies in time-to-treat performance, and the outcomes of those activities. Activities may address barriers facing patients (e.g., lack of access to affordable transportation) or barriers presented by the eligible clinician (e.g., appointment availability does not align with needs of those who lack sick leave).