Patient Involvement in Collaborative Quality Initiatives Offers Clinical Care Insight
October 9, 2020
Physicians and surgeons are finding that some of the best information to help them improve clinical quality and outcomes may come straight from their patients. In fact, patients and their caregivers add their input by sharing their experiences with providers in six of 17 Blue Cross Collaborative Quality Initiatives (CQI). CQIs bring together Michigan hospitals […]
September 15, 2020
COVID-19 hit hard in Michigan in early 2020. So many people were infected with the virus that physician offices closed to in-person appointments to help contain the spread. Physician offices needed to swiftly transition to virtual appointments and find alternate ways for their patients to receive necessary care. For MedNetOne Health Solutions (MedNetOne), a PGIP-participating […]
Securing Patient-Centered Care Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Disruption
September 15, 2020
The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has changed our everyday lives, from going to work to doing errands and even interacting with friends and family. COVID-19 also has changed the way we provide and receive health care, including the most basic of health care standards – the office visit. In the early months of the coronavirus crisis, […]
A New Distinction for Safety, Quality and Outcomes in Substance Use Treatment & Recovery
August 25, 2020
Sometimes just getting through the day is a challenge for people with substance use disorders. Add the stress surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and it becomes overwhelming. COVID-19 has contributed to increased sense of fear, isolation and anxiety, all of which can trigger increased substance use behavior. “We’ve seen an increase in people seeking help. There’s […]
Dramatic Rise in Telehealth Use Enabled by Blue Cross Incentives, Support
July 17, 2020
In a matter of weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic changed how we live, work and socialize. It has also drastically changed the way people receive health care services. As people put off care to avoid potential exposure at in-person office visits, HIPAA privacy rules were temporarily relaxed so that more health care providers could get access […]
Blue Cross CQI model enables rapid, statewide COVID-19 response
May 21, 2020
When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Michigan, our health care community urgently responded. As people flooded emergency departments and hospital ICUs filled up, medical professionals tried to understand how this strange new illness progressed, and how to best treat those suffering with it. COVID-19 is a “novel” coronavirus, meaning it is a new strain not […]
Blue Cross leverages longstanding statewide collaborations to facilitate COVID-19 response
March 18, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging the speed and resiliency of many health organizations as situations and protocols rapidly change. Because of the statewide collaborations already in place through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Value Partnerships platform, physician organizations and practices throughout the state have been able to connect and share vital information on patient […]
Access to substance use treatment boosted through statewide training programs
March 10, 2020
Despite the blizzard-like conditions, more than 60 emergency physicians and nurses from across Michigan traveled to Lansing in late February for a critical day of training. The eight-hour training session would enable them to screen patients for opioid use disorder and initiate medication assisted treatment (MAT) right in the emergency department, getting patients needed support […]
March 2, 2020
Back in the late 1990s, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan was investigating ways to support efforts to improve health care processes and quality. “We realized we had to do a better job of creating value in health care,” said Thomas Simmer, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer, BCBSM. A grant from the […]
Expanding and improving a patient-centered model of care
September 23, 2019
The Blue Cross PCMH program has already led to more than $626 million in cost savings, due to reduced or prevented ER visits and hospital stays. It works, because of the collaboration among many.