Shaping Minnesota’s Health Data Future: Insights from MNCM President Liz Cinqueonce at the 2024 State of Reform Conference

September 9, 2024

On September 5, 2024, Liz Cinqueonce, President and CEO of MN Community Measurement (MNCM), participated in a dynamic panel discussion at the 2024 Minnesota State of Reform Health Policy Conference. The panel, titled “What’s Next for Improving Minnesota’s Health Data Landscape?”, explored key topics in health data, quality measurement, and policy, featuring insights from other prominent leaders including Jennifer Lundblad (Stratis Health), Chad Peterson (Koble Group), and Dr. Tyler Winkelman (Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute). Here are some of Liz Cinqueonce’s responses to the moderator’s questions during the session:

Introduction to MN Community Measurement

Liz began by introducing MN Community Measurement, a nonprofit community collaborative established in 2005. The organization’s board includes diverse perspectives, ranging from health care providers and health plans to state government, employers, consumers, and researchers. MNCM was founded on the belief that collaboration and transparency can drive improvements in health care.

MNCM’s mission is to empower health care decision-makers by providing meaningful data that drives improvement in quality, equity, and affordability. This includes:

  • Convening stakeholders from various sectors to identify common priorities for health care improvement.
  • Developing and validating measures focused on outcomes of care.
  • Providing private and public reports on quality, equity, and cost, enabling a deeper understanding of the current landscape and areas for improvement.
  • Collaborating with health plans and medical groups to share data that helps address gaps in care and improve patient outcomes.

The organization’s data is widely used by health plans, providers, and researchers to guide quality improvement initiatives, value-based payment models, and efforts to address health disparities.

The Future of Health Data in Clinical Care

In discussing health data within clinical care, Liz emphasized MNCM’s role in empowering care providers with meaningful, actionable data that can be easily integrated into workflows. She highlighted MNCM’s ongoing efforts to modernize data collection and reporting processes, as well as the introduction of the Common Health Information Reporting Partnership (CHIRP) program.

The CHIRP program aims to address data-related barriers to value-based care by creating standardized data flows between health care providers and payers. This bidirectional feedback loop ensures timely, accurate data exchange. As of March 2024, provider-to-payer data feeds were fully operational, with payer-to-provider feeds slated for rollout in mid-2025.

Liz highlighted that this approach creates efficiencies for both providers and payers by reducing the need for manual data collection, improving the accuracy of gap reports, and facilitating better care coordination. The program’s design also leverages existing data submitted to MNCM, minimizing additional effort while maximizing value.

The Horizon of Health Data in Quality Measurement

Quality measurement remains at the heart of MNCM’s work. Liz outlined three key focus areas for the organization’s future:

  1. Measure Prioritization : MNCM has identified maternal/child health, well-child visits, and opioid use as high-priority areas for future measures. The first of these, well-child visits, provides the best opportunity for near-term implementation and is set to move forward, pending funding to integrate it into MNCM’s data systems. MNCM will be continuing to explore opportunities to implement measures for maternal/child health and opioid use in the future.
  2. Asthma Measure Review : In response to concerns about the current asthma measures, MNCM is convening a workgroup to review and improve how asthma control is measured. Recruitment for this group will begin in late September and will be announced in the Measurement Minute newsletter.
  3. Social Risk Factors (SRF) : MNCM has began collecting SRF data in early 2024 to better understand how social determinants influence health outcomes. Liz noted that 59 organizations have already submitted SRF data, representing over a million patients, and MNCM is committed to expanding this effort to improve data completeness in the coming year.

Health Data in Research and Evaluation

Liz emphasized the importance of research partnerships in advancing MNCM’s mission. She outlined four foundational elements that MNCM brings to these partnerships: trust as a neutral convener, a robust legal framework, secure technical infrastructure, and rich historical data on clinical quality and costs.

Currently, MNCM is engaged in two major research initiatives:

  • Minnesota EHR Consortium : MNCM helps small and mid-sized medical groups that are submitting data through its PIPE system to participate in public health and research initiatives through the EHR Consortium, ensuring their voices are included in valuable studies.
  • MNCARES Project : MNCM partners with the HealthPartners Institute and the Minnesota Department of Health to evaluate the impact of including social workers in care coordination teams. Though the first stage of the MNCARES project has been completed, the organization is hopeful this work will continue, pending additional funding.

Balancing Minnesota-Specific and Federal Approaches

Liz highlighted that while it’s beneficial to leverage national standards and federal opportunities, Minnesota has a history of innovation. MNCM’s philosophy is to adopt national solutions when feasible, but the organization doesn’t wait for federal standards to catch up. Instead, it informs and influences those standards, drawing on local needs and experiences.

For example, MNCM’s early work on Social Risk Factors data collection serves as a model for national conversations. Liz acknowledged that sometimes state-level innovations can be “leapfrogged” by national standards, but taking the innovative approach means Minnesota remains at the forefront of improvements in quality, equity and affordability. To mitigate risks, MNCM closely monitors federal developments while continuing to prioritize what works for Minnesota.

Navigating Minnesota’s Unique Privacy and Consent Environment

Minnesota’s privacy and consent laws create a more complex environment for health data exchange, but Liz noted that it’s something MNCM is well-prepared to manage. Contracting with Minnesota health organizations requires diligent legal oversight to ensure compliance with both state and federal laws. While this can lengthen the process and increase costs, it also strengthens the legal framework.

MNCM’s software and data infrastructure are built to comply with Minnesota’s privacy requirements, and the organization conducts annual reviews to ensure ongoing compliance with changes in the law.

Conclusion

Liz Cinqueonce’s contributions to the 2024 Minnesota State of Reform Health Policy Conference provided valuable insight into MNCM’s ongoing efforts to improve health care quality, equity, and affordability in Minnesota. By focusing on collaboration, innovation, and transparency, MNCM continues to play a crucial role in advancing the state’s health data landscape.


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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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