NC DHHS Announces NC Minority Provider Information Page

For North Carolina Medicaid Providers:

NC DHHS is committed to health equity and better serving North Carolinians of all backgrounds. As part of our focus on addressing the needs of historically marginalized populations, it is important to understand whether, and how, our provider networks reflect the populations served. Research has shown that diverse provider networks lead to improved health outcomes and reduced health disparities.

In October 2022, the Department is introducing a NC Minority Provider Information Page to providers/business entities via the enrollment, re-enrollment, re-verification, and MCR application process* in NCTracks to obtain a better understanding of the state-funded and Medicaid providers enrolled in our network. This questionnaire is completely voluntary and will not be used by the state to adjudicate claims or impose requirements on providers.

The information we are collecting is largely based on the HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) designation criteria used by the NC Department of Administration’s HUB Office. It will cover the race/ethnicity, disability, gender, LGBTQ+ of the people who own/control and operate each provider. Because the criteria we are proposing is slightly broader than those used by the HUB Office, we are calling these NC Minority Provider criteria.

Our goal is to track and report on the makeup of the diverse providers in North Carolina’s publicly-funded provider system. We plan to report this both in aggregate (as a group, regionally or state-wide) and individually (for instance, on an interactive map to help consumers identify providers who may share lived experience). You will have the option to opt out of having this information reported at the provider level if you do not want to participate in something like the interactive map.

More information here: https://www.nctracks.nc.gov/content/public/providers.html