We’re updating qualification standards for freestanding substance abuse facility agreement

Effective Sept. 1, 2017, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is updating the credentialing requirement for residential facilities performing medical detoxification. Currently, Addendum A of our Freestanding and Hospital-Based Substance Abuse Facility Traditional Participation Agreement requires a substance abuse facility to maintain certain minimums to participate with Blue Cross.

Specifically, all residential facilities are currently required to have registered nursing personnel on-site “on a 24-hour basis.”

Substance abuse facilities that perform medical detoxification will still need registered nursing personnel on-site 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

But effective Sept. 1, substance abuse facilities that don’t perform medical detoxification:

• Will still be credentialed as substance abuse facilities

• Won’t be required to have nursing personnel on-site on a 24-hour basis as long as there are registered nursing personnel on call and able to respond in 60 minutes or less. So they may have registered nursing personnel on-site or on call 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

This update will differentiate between residential facilities performing medical detoxification and those that don’t deliver those services. And it allows our requirements to keep pace with the evolution of treatment.

Currently, many facilities don’t deliver medical detoxification and instead focus primarily on behavioral treatment of the patients. These facilities do administer medication when appropriate. But the medications typically used to address depression or anxiety, or to reduce cravings, don’t require close medical supervision. These facilities continue to have nursing personnel on-site during the day and on call 24 hours per day. When not on-site, the nursing personnel’s response time to the facility must be 60 minutes or less.