Hospital and Physician Update Banner

Hospital and Physician Update Banner

Hospital and Physician Update

May – June 2017

image of 3 question marks

If you have questions or comments about any of the articles in this issue of Hospital and Physician Update — or if you’d like to suggest a topic to be covered in a future issue — please send an email to ProvComm@bcbsm.com.  Put “Hospital and Physician Update” in the subject line.

A message from Steve Anderson
Hip and knee bundle can help reduce costs, improve patient care
At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, we’re continually working to develop innovative payment solutions to improve the affordability of health care. Read more.

Study: Our Patient-Centered Medical Home model reduces hospital and emergency room use, cost
Our Patient-Centered Medical Home model is reducing hospital and emergency room use and cost by focusing on managing chronic conditions, a new study has concluded. Read more.

Health index identifies top health concerns, assigns each county a health metric
Over the past year in Hospital and Physician Update, we’ve paid a lot of attention to how behavioral health issues, such as depression, can affect overall health. Now, a new tool has been released by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association showing that Michigan’s top health concern — and the country’s — is depression, anxiety and other mood disorders, which fall under the umbrella of behavioral health conditions. Read more.

Blue Cross wellness programs help your patients improve their health
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Blue Cross® Health & Wellness programs are helping your patients improve their health and making a difference in their lives. Our wellness programs include the Blue Cross Health & Wellness website, powered by WebMD®, along with additional programs to address tobacco use, weight, nutrition, physical activity and much more. Read more.

Focus on pharmacy
Writing a new prescription each time a dosage change is made can reduce adverse events
Failing to write a new prescription when a dosage change has been made to a medication can lead to poor patient outcomes. Luckily, the situation can be easily remedied. Read more.

Report highlights value of Value Partnerships
The 2016 Value Partnerships Annual Report puts the spotlight on all the great things our participating health care providers — physicians, other practitioners and hospitals — are doing to transform health care in Michigan. Read more.

Clinical quality corner tip sheets updated for 2017
As part of our ongoing focus on improving health care quality, we’ve updated our Clinical quality corner tip sheets. The tip sheets highlight specific measures that are included in the Healthcare Effectiveness and Data Information Set, commonly called HEDIS®. Read more

Video series focuses on improving doctor-patient communication
To help doctors communicate better with patients, Blue Care Network put together four videos. Doctors with high patient satisfaction scores and BCN members shared their thoughts in four areas. Read more.

Q&A: Motivational interviewing
"Q&A" is an occasional column featuring questions from readers.
Read more.

In brief
Our “In brief” feature includes highlights of the Spring 2017 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade and information about new prior authorization requirements beginning this summer. Read more.

No portion of this publication may be copied without the express written permission of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, except that BCBSM participating health care providers may make copies for their personal use. In no event may any portion of this publication be copied or reprinted and used for commercial purposes by any party other than BCBSM.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.