Quality improvement is serious business and this year’s Qualipalooza will provide the latest information to help health care quality professionals address urgent challenges and keep up with regulatory changes and shifting administration priorities. But two speakers plan to lighten the mood a bit with a game show-style interactive session that will take learning to a new level.
Qualipalooza: The RISE Quality Leadership Summit heads to Scottsdale, Ariz., June 29 to July 1. The conference, designed for all professionals involved in quality-of-care measures, will feature sessions on best practices and strategies to improve Star ratings, CMS clinical data measures, CAHPS and HOS, plus the latest updates on NCQA measures and how to navigate the transition to ECDS digital measures.
Speaker Daniel Weaver, SVP Stars and quality for Zing Health, who has frequently attended Qualipalooza in the past, said he considers the conference one of the best because it bridges the gap between Stars, quality, HEDIS®, and Medicaid.
“It’s valuable for health plans because it gives people insights into the measure changes that are coming and the technical specifications that are coming,” he said. “And there are a lot of people that have to think about accreditation and the qualify scores for their Medicaid programs if their state has a quality bonus program for Medicaid.”
Jenn Kerfoot, chief strategy & growth officer, DUOS, who will lead a session with Weaver on the first day of the main conference, agrees that Qualipalooza is a must-attend event because it brings together a community of professionals who want to learn from experts who share case studies or solutions that they’ve deployed over the years that have yielded successful results.
To help attendees build a resilient framework at their organization, Weaver and Kerfoot have planned a high-energy, interactive session that will explore the most pressing challenges facing quality leaders in Medicare Advantage today as well as offer a little levity to the serious work of quality improvement.
Survey says: What keeps you up at night?
The first half of the session, “What if, Not Again, Uh Oh, and Now What: Quality Improvement Unscripted,” will be in a game-show format with Weaver playing the host as a “Ron Burgandy-like character” from Anchorman.
“It’s going to merge comedy with a Family Feud/Jeopardy format,” Weaver told RISE. “The goal is to be silly and have some fun with it. It will allow us to be entertaining and get people engaged differently than they would otherwise.”
The audience will be divided into teams and asked questions based on a quick survey that Kerfoot and Weaver are asking health care professionals to complete prior to the conference. The answers to the survey will help shape the session, guide live discussions, and point toward solutions that can turn late-night worries into strategic wins, Kerfoot said.
Kerfoot describes the session as 50-minutes of learning, laughter, prizes, and “a little friendly competition.” The second half of the session will focus on lessons learned and educational insights that Kerfoot will share based on work with DUO’s health plan clients and Weaver will provide based on his experience working at three health plans.
Their session will take place at 11:10 a.m. Monday, June 30, following the keynote and a regulatory update presentation.
Other planned sessions
The conference will kick off on Sunday, June 29 with four half-day preconference workshops (additional registration required).
Morning sessions include:
- Workshop A: A Deep Dive into Quality and Stars Data
- Workshop B: Operational Improvements to Boost HEDIS Scores in the Age of ECDS
Afternoon sessions will tackle:
- Workshop C: Stars Math and Strategy: Work Smarter, Not Harder
- Workshop D: Prepare a Winning HEDIS Strategy for Today and Tomorrow
Following the keynote, regulatory update, and Weaver and Kerfoot’s session on Monday, attendees will be able to choose sessions within two concurrent tracks. Topics will focus on CAHPS, D-SNPs, new and revised 2025 NCQA quality measures, the transition to digital measures, leveraging AI in quality improvement, and enhancing member satisfaction and outreach. Attendees will also have an opportunity to learn about the latest and greatest tech tools and participate in roundtable discussions facilitated by health plan speakers and other industry leaders.
General sessions on Tuesday, July 1, will focus on developments in the latest quality litigation and risk areas for Medicare Advantage plans and provider groups and HEDIS ECDS measures and the move to digital measures. Concurrent track session topics will include leading quality through data, one plan’s path to 5 Stars, advancing health equity, SNP Star measures, and survey oversampling. The conference will conclude with a general session on advocacy essentials for shaping future quality measures.
Qualipalooza: The RISE Quality Leadership Summit will take place June 30-July 1, with preconference workshops on June 29, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Click here to see the full agenda, roster of speakers, and registration information.
Don’t forget to take the RISE Qualipalooza Survey: What’s Keeping You Up at Night? and share your biggest quality concerns. You might hear your answer live on stage!
Editor’s note: HEDIS® is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and any reference thereto by RISE Health does not imply any endorsement by NCQA of RISE Health and its offerings.