Here’s an update on Blue Distinction Specialty Care

We wanted to remind you about this important Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association designation program and let you know how the program has changed over the past year.

About the program
Blue Distinction^® Specialty Care recognizes health care facilities that demonstrate proven expertise in delivering high-quality, effective and cost-efficient care for select specialty areas. The program currently includes the following seven areas of specialty care:

• Bariatric surgery
• Cardiac care
• Knee and hip replacement
• Spine surgery
• Maternity care
• Cancer care
• Transplants

The program includes two levels of designation:

Blue Distinction Centers are providers recognized for their expertise in delivering safe, effective, high-quality specialty care.

Blue Distinction Centers+ are providers recognized for their expertise and cost-efficiency in delivering specialty care. Only those providers that first meet Blue Distinction Centers’ nationally established, objective quality criteria are considered for designation as a Blue Distinction Center+.

Recent program changes

• The complex and rare cancers program ended Dec. 31, 2017, and the new cancer care program launched Jan. 1, 2018. Here are features of the new program:
• There’s no restriction on cancer type
• Hospitals, physician groups and individual physicians can be designated.
• The provider must be engaged in a value-based payment arrangement with a Blue plan to be designated.
• There’s no BDC+ designation, only BDC.
• As of Jan. 1, 2018, the bariatric surgery program went from a type of service designation (stapling versus banding) to a place-of-service designation (comprehensive center versus ambulatory surgery center). This means that an entity can either be designated for bariatric surgery as a comprehensive center or as an ASC.

Program refreshes

• The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association refreshes criteria for designation in each specialty area of the program about every two years to provide meaningful quality and cost differentiation to employers, employees and providers. To remain designated, facilities must reapply for Blue Distinction Center designations during each re-evaluation cycle.
• The spine surgery and knee and hip replacement programs are being refreshed this year. In the new cycle, ASCs can earn BDC designation in addition to hospitals. This summer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan will be sending a letter to each facility that performs these procedures, inviting them to apply for designation by submitting a provider survey. The refreshed programs are tentatively scheduled to be effective July 1, 2019.

Coming next

• A new fertility care program will launch Jan. 1, 2019.
• A new gene therapy and cellular immunotherapy program is tentatively scheduled to launch Jan. 1, 2019.
• A new substance use disorder program is tentatively scheduled to launch Jan. 1, 2020.

About selection criteria
Blue Distinction Center and Blue Distinction Center+ designations are awarded to facilities and providers based on a thorough, objective evaluation of their performance in the areas that matter most, including quality care, treatment expertise and overall patient results. Selection criteria are developed with the help of expert physicians and medical organizations. Blue Distinction Centers and Blue Distinction Centers+ have a proven history of delivering better quality and results, such as fewer complications and lower readmission rates, than those without these recognitions.

Finding a center
The Blue Distinction Specialty Care program provides broad national access to facilities and providers by delivering better quality specialty care, making them easy to find wherever you work and live across the U.S. You can easily locate a Blue Distinction Center at bcbs.com/blue-distinction-center-finder or by using our Find a Doctor feature at bcbsm.com.

Did you know?
Today, more than 3,600 Blue Distinction Center and Blue Distinction Center+ designations have been awarded to more than 1,900 health care facilities in 48 states.