Collaborative Quality Initiatives Continue to Influence National Care Protocols
April 20, 2023
Since Blue Cross launched the Collaborative Quality Initiative model more than 20 years ago, our provider partners have routinely developed many best practices that improve clinical processes, safety and quality. The CQI structure enables rich data collection from a wide variety of clinical sites and fosters deep cooperation across the initiative. As a result, findings […]
Experts Gather at Inaugural Michigan Obesity Summit to Address the Obesity Public Health Crisis
October 11, 2022
The United States has an obesity problem, and it’s costing more than a trillion dollars in direct and indirect medical costs. In Michigan, which has one of the highest obesity rates in the nation, 36% of adults and 17% of children are obese. If the trend continues, about half of the population will be obese […]
Improving Health Care Through Collaboration in Michigan and Beyond
August 18, 2022
If you owned a business, it would be unlikely that you would regularly meet with your competitors to talk about best practices in order to better serve your customers. Yet Michigan health care providers from competing systems do this regularly to improve health care delivery, on measures from cost to quality. And you, the customer, benefit greatly. One way providers work together is through statewide […]
The Blue Cross cardiovascular consortium celebrates 25 years of improving patient outcomes
December 9, 2021
Twenty-five years ago, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan partnered with five hospitals to launch the percutaneous coronary intervention registry, a collaborative effort to improve quality, cost and outcomes of angioplasty procedures. Since then, the initiative has grown into a statewide consortium of nearly 50 hospitals and 600 physicians, now called BMC2 (Blue Cross Blue […]
Lessons Learned from MI-COVID19 Initiative Influence Care & Treatment Protocols Statewide
June 30, 2021
As patients became seriously ill with COVID19 in the spring of 2020, emergency departments and hospitals around the state were quickly filling up. Yet, at the time, much was unknown about this virus and how to treat it. Fortunately, in Michigan, the Collaborative Quality Initiative structure offered a foundational process that quickly enabled hospitals statewide […]
Anesthesiology CQI reduces greenhouse gas emissions
April 1, 2021
The Anesthesiology Performance Improvement and Reporting Exchange CQI, or ASPIRE, aims to improve the quality of care and outcomes for patients receiving anesthesia. Now, participants are focusing on improving population health as they help the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “We often forget that providing health care can generate great amounts of waste and pollution, causing disease […]
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 […]
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 […]
Reflections from a patient: CQI collaboration improves quality and patient experience
July 17, 2019
I have long admired the Collaborative Quality Initiatives, but never imagined that I would personally benefit from their work.