President’s Blog | What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for health care measurement and reporting?

April 13, 2020

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to upend business as usual in health care, many people are wondering what it will mean for health care quality and cost measurement and reporting. In the near term, there are questions about data collection to measure 2019 health care provider and health plan performance. In the longer term, there are many other questions to consider, such as how future measurement and public reporting will account for disruptions in health care delivery during the pandemic and how it will evolve to reflect changes in health care delivery that are likely to be permanent – such as increased use of virtual health care visits.

MN Community Measurement has created a new page on our website to serve as a resource for monitoring changes that are happening to health care measurement efforts in Minnesota and nationally. The page includes current information on how MNCM measurement activities are changing, and it is also intended to serve as a go-to resource for up to date information and links to what the federal government, the state of Minnesota, and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) have announced in terms of their requirements and data collection. The situation continues to evolve, so we encourage you to check this page for updates and let us know if there are additional resources that would be helpful for us to include.

We don’t have the answers yet to many of these questions, but I want to assure you that MN Community Measurement will take a collaborative approach to answering them. We are interested in gathering and understanding the perspectives of health care providers, health plans and government payers, employers, consumers, and others. We are planning to engage MNCM’s Measurement and Reporting Committee (MARC) closely in the work, and we will gather stakeholder perspectives through other mechanisms as well.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that in the midst ofall of this change, MNCM is also continuing to implement its new datacollection platform called PIPE.Conceived nearly three years ago, the goal of PIPE is to make it much easierfor health care providers to submit data for quality measures and to providetimely feedback to providers that supports their performance improvementefforts. One additional advantage of PIPE is that it will allow for muchgreater flexibility in measurement – for example, to adjust measurementparameters and definitions in a much nimbler way that can support gooddecisions about how quality measures should evolve in the future. To learn moreabout PIPE, please contact MNCM.

Thank you for your partnership. Stay safe and stay healthy!

Julie Sonier is President and CEO of MN Community Measurement.


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October 20, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — October 20, 2026 — MN Community Measurement (MNCM) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Koble-MN's health information exchange (HIE) business line and the MNSHINE brand from The Koble Group. On November 1, MNCM will officially change its legal name to Minnesota Statewide Health Information Network and Exchange, known as MNSHINE. The transition follows a special joint meeting of MNCM's Board of Directors and members on October 12, at which the Board unanimously approved resolutions authorizing the acquisition, changing the organization's legal name, and establishing a new HIE Advisory Committee. Members unanimously adopted the name change and related amendments to the organization's Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. An intentional decision to collaborate The transition is the result of an intentional decision by Minnesota health care leaders to collaborate on a health data landscape that makes sense: one that reduces redundancy, increases efficiency, and delivers needed information to those with legal authorization to receive it, where and when it is needed, without unnecessary administrative barriers. "This is not simply a merger of services. It is a deliberate choice to build the kind of health data infrastructure Minnesota deserves," said Liz Cinqueonce, President and CEO of MNCM. "For too long, organizations across our state have had to navigate duplicative systems and disconnected data. By bringing measurement and exchange together, we can reduce that burden and make sure the right information reaches the right people at the right time, with patient privacy protections firmly in place, so they can focus on improving care." The effort builds on months of work by the Executive Leadership Council, convened earlier this year by MNCM, the Minnesota Electronic Health Records Consortium, and Koble to explore how a sustainable, statewide health data utility could serve the public interest. "Minnesota is at its best when we take on difficult challenges together and align on solutions," said Mark Steffen, MD, Chair of the MNCM Board of Directors. "The Board's unanimous support reflects a shared conviction that our future depends on organizations keeping their unique strengths and missions while participating in shared infrastructure and governance. That balance is what enables greater coordination, transparency, efficiency, and impact." A trusted backbone for Minnesota's health data Minnesota's future health data ecosystem is one in which organizations retain their unique strengths and missions while participating in shared infrastructure and governance. The vision for MNSHINE is to become the health data utility, governed in the public interest with strong privacy protections and transparency, that serves as the trusted backbone connecting these efforts, ensuring data can be used more effectively to improve health, wellbeing, and outcomes for all Minnesotans. By bringing the measurement of health care quality, cost, and utilization together with the infrastructure that moves clinical data between organizations, MNSHINE will be positioned to support providers, payers, public health, researchers, policymakers, and communities alike, each within the limits of applicable law and participant agreements. The goal is healthier people, stronger communities, greater equity, better public decisions, smarter investments, and a health system that learns continuously. Continuity for HIE participants HIE services will continue without interruption. To ensure continuity of leadership and relationships, Chad Peterson, CEO of The Koble Group, has joined MNCM as Senior Vice President of HIE Services. “For HIE participants, this transition opens new possibilities,” said Peterson. “When exchange and measurement are guided by one mission, we can reduce duplication for providers and better support care coordination, while holding firm to the privacy protections patients expect. I’m proud to help lead that work, and I’m committed to making sure every participant feels supported as we grow.” MNCM has also established the HIE Advisory Committee as a standing committee of its Board of Directors. The committee continues the work of the Koble-MN Advisory Committee and will advise the Board on interoperability, participant relationships, privacy, security, data governance, and health equity. Jennifer Lamprecht of Sanford Health and Dr. Justine Mrosak of Hennepin Healthcare have been appointed to co-chair the committee, which will include consumer representatives alongside members representing a cross-section of Minnesota's health care community. Protecting patient privacy This transition changes who operates Minnesota's health information exchange. It does not change how patient information is protected or who may access it. MNSHINE will continue to operate in compliance with HIPAA and the Minnesota Health Records Act, which is among the strongest patient-consent laws in the nation, and in compliance with the participant agreements that govern how information is exchanged. Health information exchange and measurement will each remain governed by their own legal and contractual requirements, and bringing them into one organization does not change the purposes for which patient information may be used.
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