22 Oct Why AI Ready Data Drives Sustainable Quality Performance for Health Plans

By Mark Coetzer, VP of Business Development at IMAT Solutions

Many health plan quality leaders are working to improve HEDIS, CAHPS, Star Ratings, and NCQA scores but struggle with fragmented and incomplete data. True performance starts with accurate and unified health data that can be trusted across reporting, audits, and member experience programs. AI ready data gives payers the foundation they need to close care gaps faster and improve results with confidence at scale.

The New Reality for Quality Leaders

Health payer Directors of Quality are facing more pressure than ever. State Medicaid agencies are tightening oversight, CMS continues to refine quality measures, and Star Ratings now have a stronger impact on revenue and brand perception. The central challenge of every quality program is data.

If the data a plan relies on is incomplete, outdated, or inconsistent, closing care gaps becomes reactive instead of proactive. CAHPS improvements stall. Member interventions arrive too late. HEDIS season becomes a scramble to find missing documentation rather than a structured strategy to improve population outcomes.

Why AI Ready Data Matters

Quality improvement programs succeed when plans can trust the underlying data feeding their analytics, dashboards, and reporting tools. AI ready data is clean, complete, current, and connected across all care settings and member interactions. It allows quality leaders to:

• Identify missing services and screenings before audit season.
• Reduce manual chase-down of records from providers.
• Improve accuracy of risk adjustment for Star Ratings.
• Monitor quality performance in real time instead of after the fact.
• Detect member experience issues earlier and target outreach more effectively.

Turning Data into Measurable Quality Gains

With AI ready data as the foundation, health plans can move beyond retrospective reporting and act on real-time intelligence. The IMAT Intelligence platform unifies data from clinical, claims, lab, social, and encounter sources to create a single trusted view of each member. This gives quality teams the visibility required to:

• Improve HEDIS scores with cleaner data and faster closure of care gaps.
• Strengthen CAHPS performance with better upstream identification of experience drivers.
• Support NCQA accreditation requirements with validated and governed data.
• Align analytics with value-based contracts that link payment to performance.

A Strategic Advantage in Member Experience

CAHPS has become one of the most influential indicators of plan quality and trust. Yet most dissatisfaction signals exist long before survey season. When the data foundation is fragmented, those signals stay hidden.

AI ready data reveals service delays, access barriers, and follow up breakdowns sooner. This gives quality leaders the ability to design earlier interventions that improve satisfaction and loyalty.

From Compliance to Continuous Improvement

Health plans are expected to show year over year progress across quality domains. That is impossible without a data environment that adapts with population needs. AI ready data does not just support compliance. It supports transformation.

It is the difference between reporting after the fact and shaping outcomes before they appear on a scorecard.

Ready to Strengthen Quality Performance with AI Ready Data?

The IMAT Intelligence platform helps health plans unify fragmented data, accelerate care gap closure, and build reliable reporting for HEDIS, CAHPS, Star Ratings, and NCQA accreditation.

Contact us today to learn how IMAT Solutions can help your quality teams move from fragmented data to reliable insight.

About the Author
Mark Coetzer is VP of Business Development at IMAT Solutions, with more than 30 years of technology experience and a decade dedicated to healthcare. He brings deep expertise in clinical data integration, interoperability, and population health, and is passionate about helping organizations build trusted data foundations for better care and smarter outcomes.

Additional Insights from Mark Coetzer
• PODCAST: The Need for AI Ready Data in Healthcare
• PODCAST: Closing Care Gaps Through Better Data – Why It’s Time to Move Beyond Chart Chasing
• HIT Consultant: Why Clean Data Is the Foundation for AI in Healthcare
• Healthcare Business Today: AI Ready Health Data in the Era of Smarter Care
• Health IT Answers: Why Data Intelligence Is the Missing Link in Healthcare Modernization
• Why AI Ready Data is the Key to Hitting Population Health KPIs
• How AI-Ready Health Data Supports the Joint Commission and CHAI Guidance