Upward Health’s Q&A Series: Quality Taskforce
Now in its second year, Upward Health’s Quality Taskforce has become a critical part of our mission to enhance patient care by closing care gaps and improving key quality outcomes, including Star measures for Medicare and HEDIS measures for Medicaid. By concentrating on a small set of the most impactful measures, we’ve been able to drive meaningful improvements. To operationalize this approach, the Quality Taskforce is aligned with the specific measures prioritized in each of our health plan contracts, ensuring targeted and effective action.
Guided by our management team and supported by our Medical Directors, the Taskforce teams unite a cross-departmental group to drive quality improvement through a holistic and data-driven approach. As we step into the new year, the teams refined their focus measures and set 2025 targets, drawing on key lessons learned and building on the successes achieved thus far.
We recently spoke with two members of our leadership team, Dr. Anubhav Kaul and Victoria Abel, to reflect on the Taskforce’s progress, its impact, and how we plan to build on this work to continue delivering meaningful outcomes.
Anubhav Kaul, MD, MPH, Upward Health’s Chief Medical Officer, leads the development and oversight of our clinical programs, with a focus on outcomes, quality of care, and patient satisfaction. A physician leader with a background in public health, Dr. Kaul brings expertise in clinical practice improvement, operational management, and healthcare advocacy. His passion for driving innovation is rooted in his commitment to delivering quality care and enhancing the patient experience.
Victoria Abel, MBA, PMP, CBPP, Upward Health’s Vice President, Clinical Process Excellence, collaborates cross-functionally to design strategic solutions and processes that enable the effective delivery of our clinical programs. Her efforts focus on optimizing every patient touchpoint to ensure the highest quality of care. As an experienced operational leader with a strong background in process design and implementation, she leverages her project management expertise to align initiatives with the company’s core goals and values.
Q
What lessons have we learned from this past year that will shape how we reset the metrics and approach the Taskforce in the coming year?
VICTORIA: 2024 laid a strong foundation for standardizing processes that help providers close care gaps across quality measures. Through Taskforce meetings, we fostered collaboration among Care Teams to identify patients in need and develop personalized strategies for engagement at all levels. Last year, our strategies centered on patients with moderate to high engagement levels. In 2025, we are focusing on engagement strategies for patients who struggle to participate in their own care. We helped a New York patient receive an early breast cancer diagnosis last year, and this particular patient rarely sought medical care. We want 2025 to be filled with these stories.
DR. KAUL: I agree, we see that even for individuals who regularly go to the doctor, engaging in preventive care can be a challenge. We routinely encounter men who’ve never had their concerns about colorectal cancer screening addressed by a healthcare professional. Our approach is to meet patients where they are—listening to their concerns while clearly outlining the benefits of preventive screenings. This allows us to have meaningful conversations empowering patients to make informed and thoughtful decisions about their care.
Q
What has been the most significant impact you've seen from the Quality Taskforce on patient outcomes?
VICTORIA: The performance improvements are the most exciting impact. We have a Louisiana cohort where we saw a 60% improvement in Controlling High Blood Pressure (CBP), as an example. Our team celebrated this one, and we made it a priority to share the lessons learned across all of our Care Teams to drive similar success elsewhere.
Q
The regional Medical Directors played a significant role in the Taskforce. How did their involvement enhance the process and outcomes?
DR. KAUL: The collaboration between Medical Directors and front-line operational leaders played a crucial role in achieving quality goals. It was a natural partnership given the teams are both participating in daily clinical touchpoints and routine clinical case reviews. Focusing in on CBP, as Victoria mentioned, I can recall a patient in California where one of our physicians connected with our frontline team during a patient’s appointment to ensure the blood pressure was compliant and to recommend a monitoring plan for the following weeks. Close collaboration makes the difference.
Q
How do you see the work of the Taskforce evolving in the future to continue driving impact and improvement?
VICTORIA: The Quality Taskforce has a significant opportunity to reduce variability across markets by sharing best practices. With robust, real-time data and dashboards, we can enhance how we identify and address gaps, ensuring a more consistent approach across different populations. We’re also improving our collaboration with our provider and coding teams to keep everyone aligned on best practices.
DR. KAUL: Exactly. The collaboration and data empower us to refine engagement strategies tailored to the unique needs of specific populations, advancing our commitment to health equity. For instance, tackling the Controlling High Blood Pressure measure requires distinct approaches for a New York City Medicaid population compared to a rural Arizona Medicare population. By leveraging these insights, we address disparities, adapt our strategies to meet each group’s specific challenges, and ensure we deliver meaningful outcomes for all communities.
Our Quality Taskforce thrives on a client-driven approach, delivering tailored strategies and actionable insights to address the unique needs of each population we serve. By aligning initiatives with health plan goals, we drive innovation, equity, and measurable improvements in patient outcomes across diverse communities.
About Upward Health
Upward Health is an in-home multidisciplinary medical group that partners with health plans and other risk-bearing entities to address the needs of high- and emerging-risk patients. Using a unique, in-home, whole-person care approach to meeting a patient’s needs, Upward Health delivers and coordinates care that improves outcomes and the quality of life for every patient it serves. It has a Net Promoter Score of 86, among the highest in the healthcare industry, and ranks No. 6 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. To learn more, visit www.upwardhealth.com.
Press Contact: Ashley Kurpiewski, [email protected]