January 27, 2022
Participants in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Cardiovascular Consortium (BMC2) have improved patient safety through two important projects. First, physicians have reduced the number of opioid pills prescribed to patients following certain vascular surgeries. Second, they reduced radiation exposure during angioplasty procedures. In the first project, participating physicians saw the need and the […]
September 2, 2021
For patients with heart disease, participation in an outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular readmission and death, and improved quality of life. Yet nationally the rate of referral to a cardiac rehab program after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has remained suboptimal; between 60 and 70 percent over the past […]
Continuous Learning Through Peer Review Makes Angioplasty and Stenting Better in Michigan
March 9, 2021
If you receive an angioplasty at a Michigan facility, you might take comfort in knowing that the team performing the procedure participates in a statewide quality improvement initiative called the BMC2. It’s also likely that the interventional cardiologists who perform the angioplasty have received feedback from their peers, helping them learn and share best practices […]
March 1, 2021
Years ago when atherectomy was introduced as an option to remove plaque in the arteries, the hope was that it would be a less costly option because the procedure could be performed in an outpatient setting. In Michigan, other artery-opening methods of balloon and stent angioplasty must be done in a hospital that has an […]
Study: More people are receiving coronary revascularization under the Healthy Michigan Plan
April 4, 2018
Thanks to the rich amount of data available through the cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgery CQIs, researchers at Michigan Medicine found that Michigan’s Medicaid expansion has helped more patients obtain needed heart surgery or angioplasty procedures. In addition, those newly insured with Medicaid had no increase in complications, length of stay or mortality. “Despite the concern […]