In brief

New life expectancy study challenges assumptions
A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association tests the assumptions some people have about life in America, NPR reported Dec. 3. The research finds that working-age Americans are less likely to live to retirement age than at any time in recent history. Dr. Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, is the report's lead author.

“What we found is that since 2010, all-cause mortality — that means the chances of dying before age 65 — have been increasing in the United States,” Woolf said in an interview with NPR's David Greene. “And for the past three years, life expectancy has been decreasing. It's a quite alarming recent trend. But our study shows that it's been decades in the making, starting back in the 1980s.”

To listen to the interview or read the transcript, click here.*
To read the JAMA Network article, click here.*

Consider an ASC as a site-of-care option for low-risk patients
If a patient is in good health with no chronic conditions and has never had an adverse reaction to anesthesia, consider choosing an ambulatory surgical center, instead of the hospital, for routine outpatient procedures. Increasingly, outpatient procedures are being done in ASCs. Those procedures include colonoscopies and colon biopsies, upper gastrointestinal endoscopies and biopsies, hip and knee arthroplasties and cataract procedures. And choosing an ASC can benefit health care providers and patients in several ways. For more details, see the January Record article.

Order the Patient Digital Engagement Toolkit
When our members register for their online Blue Cross member account and use it regularly, it can reduce the amount of calls that your office receives. Members with online accounts know more about their health plans, are better prepared patients, and their overall satisfaction improves. You can find the Patient Digital Engagement Toolkit at bcbsm.com/ordertoolkit and use it to get flyers and posters that encourage your patients to register for their member account. At the site, you can also order materials that help educate patients about the Blue Cross mobile app — another useful tool that gives members information about their health care plan at their fingertips.

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