Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan recognizes 10 health care facilities for distinction in bariatric surgery

As part of the Blue Distinction^® Centers for Specialty Care program, we recently recognized 10 health care facilities in Michigan for excellence.

These facilities have been designated as either Blue Distinction^® Centers — for delivering quality care resulting in better overall outcomes for bariatric patients — or as Blue Distinction^® Centers+ for delivering the same quality care as Blue Distinction Centers while also meeting key requirements for cost efficiency. See list of designated facilities at the end of this article.

To receive a Blue Distinction Center for Bariatric Surgery designation, a health care facility must demonstrate success in meeting patient safety measures, as well as bariatric-specific quality measures. The latter includes complications and readmissions for gastric stapling or gastric banding procedures. A health care facility must also have earned national accreditations at both the facility level and the bariatric care-specific level.

To receive a Blue Distinction Center+ for Bariatric Surgery designation, a health care facility must not only demonstrate success in meeting patient safety and bariatric-specific quality measures, but also demonstrate better cost efficiency relative to its peers. Quality is key: only those facilities that first meet Blue Distinction’s nationally established, objective quality measures will be considered for Blue Distinction Center+ designation.

This year’s bariatric surgery designation also includes facilities that are recognized for gastric banding, in addition to thoses being recognized for gastric stapling.

Background
Bariatric surgeries are among the most common elective surgeries in the U.S., providing a significant opportunity to improve quality and efficiency within the health care system.There were 179,000 bariatric surgeries performed in 2013, according to the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and the average cost is more than $28,000 per episode, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Furthermore, it’s estimated that 72 million Americans are obese and 24 million suffer from morbid obesity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The estimated annual health care costs of obesity-related illnesses are $190.2 billion, or nearly 21 percent of annual medical spending in the U.S., according to the Journal of Health Economics.

Research shows that facilities designated as Blue Distinction Centers and Blue Distinction Centers+ demonstrate better quality and improved outcomes for patients compared with their peers.On average, Blue Distinction Centers+ are also 20 percent or more cost efficient than non-Blue DistinctionCenter+ facilities.

Specialty types
Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality providers for their specialty care needs in such areas as cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, spine surgery, transplants and bariatric surgery

Designated bariatric facilities
Here is the list of Michigan facilities that received distinction in the area of bariatric surgery as of Feb. 9, 2015:

For more information about the new Blue Distinction Centers designations for bariatric surgery, visit bcbs.com/bluedistinction. You may also contact Jawwad Baig of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Value Partnerships at 313-448-5038 or JBaig@bcbsm.com.