We are excited to announce a new partnership with Northeast Health Partners. Earlier in the year we launched a partnership with Rocky Mountain Health Plan and we’re thrilled to expand Violet’s offering to ensure that even more Coloradans have access to providers who truly get them. This collaboration marks a significant step forward in ensuring that culturally diverse populations in rural and frontier areas have access to inclusive, high-quality care.
Partnership details
The partnership between Violet and NHP is designed to tackle the complexities of health care delivery in rural and frontier regions, where resources are limited, and access to inclusive care is often constrained. By benchmarking the cultural competencies of NHP’s network, our collaboration aims to:
- Identify access gaps: Using Violet's data-driven insights, NHP will be able to pinpoint counties where there is a lack of inclusive providers relative to the population makeup and target those regions for improvement. This will help ensure that all members, regardless of their background, have access to culturally responsive care.
- Incentivize equitable care: NHP will leverage Violet’s benchmarking data to incentivize provider organizations to turn up their efforts toward health equity. By offering additional compensation tied to cultural competence, NHP encourages providers to engage in skill-building initiatives that promote inclusive care.
- Target known disparities: In areas where there is a shortage of inclusive care, Violet will provide Clinical Quality Educational Interventions (CQEI) to upskill providers. This targeted training is crucial in addressing health disparities and improving health outcomes in marginalized communities. More specifically, NHP is laser-focused on improving 12 different measures across preventive care, vaccines and immunization, behavioral health, and prenatal care.
- Improve member experience: By integrating cultural competency data into NHP’s provider directories, members will be able to find the right in-network providers who can meet their unique identity needs. This integration not only empowers patients but also strengthens the patient-provider relationship.
Addressing the challenges of rural and frontier communities
NHP’s CEO, Brian Robertson, highlighted the complexities of implementing a health equity plan in such a diverse region. With a service area covering 22,000 square miles across 10 counties—ranging from urban to frontier—the challenges are multifaceted. The region's demographic diversity, including significant Hispanic, Somali, and migrant communities, coupled with the influx of refugees, adds to the urgency of delivering equitable care.
Despite these challenges, NHP has made significant strides in serving marginalized populations, often exceeding typical performance metrics. However, the partnership with Violet is set to bolster these efforts by providing the tools and dynamic data needed to ensure that all populations, especially those in underserved areas, receive the care they deserve.
Looking ahead
As NHP expands its reach, potentially adding more counties to its service area, the partnership with Violet will play a critical role in ensuring that health equity remains at the forefront of their strategy. By embedding cultural competence into the fabric of care delivery, Violet and NHP are paving the way for a more inclusive and responsive network that meets the needs of millions of Coloradans, regardless of their location or background.
Partnering with Violet has given us a more comprehensive view of our network’s cultural competence, establishing a solid foundation for continuous improvement through targeted training, strategic partnerships, and intentional care coordination.
“Our biggest challenge in implementing our health equity plan has been transforming data insights into actionable interventions. We take a rigorous, data-driven approach—delving into root causes and collaborating with both providers and members to overcome barriers. One unexpected discovery was that our rural and frontier counties underperformed compared to urban centers, prompting us to shift our focus. Partnering with Violet has given us a more comprehensive view of our network’s cultural competence, establishing a solid foundation for continuous improvement through targeted training, strategic partnerships, and intentional care coordination. I have no doubt that Violet’s benchmarking data will be viewed as an essential component of every forward-thinking plan’s strategy.”
Brian Robertson
Chief Executive Officer