On June 17, the Michigan Value Collaborative (MVC) welcomed 18 quality leaders representing 16 hospitals across six health systems for an evening of networking and collaborative discussion focused on the future of system-level quality improvement. The event built upon conversations from MVC’s spring collaborative-wide meeting, where participants identified opportunities and goals for measuring quality improvement within and across multi-hospital systems.
The in-person networking dinner provided an opportunity to further engage participants in hands-on activities designed to gather feedback, encourage peer learning, and refine ideas for future MVC reporting and metric design.
Choosing the Right Visualization
The evening began with an interactive exercise focused on data visualization. Participants were greeted by three mock-ups of system-level metric visualizations and prompted to vote on the metric they believed would be most useful to support quality improvement.
Pictured above is MVC Project Manager Emily Woltmann, PhD, MSW, standing alongside a display table at MVC’s June 2026 networking dinner
The group overwhelmingly preferred a visualization displaying consistency among hospitals within a health system for a given metric (Figure 1). Discussions with participants revealed that this approach would allow system leaders to quickly identify opportunities for shared learning, recognize high-performing hospitals, and prioritize improvement efforts where variation exists. This reinforced the importance placed on balancing meaningful information with a metric that supports action, as shared during the preceding spring collaborative-wide meeting breakout activity.
Figure 1. System-Level Metric Visualization Mock-Ups
Speed Networking Sparks Perspective
Following dinner, attendees participated in a “speed dating” style networking activity designed to generate diverse perspectives on system-level quality improvement reporting. Each participant received a customized deck of discussion prompt cards covering topics such as preferred benchmarking approaches, desired report features, future quality priorities, and characteristics of an ideal system-level metric (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Sample of Speed Networking Prompt Cards 1-3
Every five minutes participants paired with a new colleague, selected a new discussion card, and explored one of the prompts with their partner before rotating again. By the end of the activity, each attendee had connected with six different peers, allowing them to hear perspectives from hospitals and health systems across Michigan while also expanding their professional network.
Pictured above is a group of healthcare quality leaders at MVC’s June 2026 networking dinner.
The prompt cards encouraged participants to think creatively about questions such as:
- Should system-level reports compare hospitals with: other hospitals in a multi-hospital system, systems to other systems, or statewide benchmarks?
- What stratifications would provide the greatest insight into performance variation?
- What quality outcomes should become the next system-wide priority?
- What information would make a system-level report most actionable?
These one-on-one conversations generated thoughtful discussion around identifying meaningful measures, balancing accountability with collaboration, and designing reports that support improvement across diverse organizations.
Wrap Up: Identifying Common Themes
The evening concluded with a facilitated group discussion where participants were encouraged to think about recurring themes from their conversations with peers.
Throughout the event, attendees emphasized the value of reports that are easy to interpret, highlight meaningful variation within multi-hospital systems, and provide actionable information. Participants also discussed the importance of thoughtful benchmarking, meaningful risk adjustment, and opportunities to drill down into data to better understand differences in performance. One common theme noted was the continued importance of understanding the variation and impact of non-medical drivers of health.
Perhaps equally valuable was the opportunity this event offered to strengthen relationships among quality leaders from across the state. By encouraging diverse conversations throughout the evening, participants exchanged ideas and made connections with peers they may not have otherwise met, creating new networks that extend across health systems.
One attendee shared:
“It was really nice and planned well. The activity was well thought out and engaging. I think I talked to almost everyone and there was movement. I didn’t know or realize that we could attend these sessions in other regions, and I was happy to connect with other hospitals in attendance…I felt it was worth the drive and time. I appreciate [MVC] planning and hosting it.”
The ideas generated during this networking event will help inform future system-level reporting and metric development within the MVC Coordinating Center. MVC looks forward to hosting additional networking events in the future to further increase collaboration and connection among its members. The next networking opportunity will be offered as an in-person dinner on Oct. 8, the evening before MVC’s fall collaborative-wide meeting. Registration is forthcoming.
