Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association gives Blue Distinction Total Care a new name

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association recently announced that the national Blue Distinction^® Total Care program is now called Total Care. The association also added a new Total Care+ designation level.

The move is part of an effort to strengthen branding of the national Blue Cross value-based care programs. It’s also intended to minimize any market confusion and avoid including both Specialty Care and Total Care under the Blue Distinction umbrella. (For information about our Blue Distinction^® Specialty Care program, see the article in the January — February issue of Hospital and Physician Update.)

Total Care is the nation’s largest integrated network of value‐based care providers. It gives employers access to similar quality programs when they have employees in multiple states. In Michigan, Patient-Centered Medical Home-designated practices and Organized Systems of Care are designated as Total Care providers. There are no changes to the name or design of the PCMH or OSC programs; only the Total Care and Total Care+ names are changing.

Keep the following in mind:

• The name of our national centers of excellence program, Blue Distinction^® Specialty Care, hasn’t changed. This change only affects Total Care.
• Providers designated as Total Care and Total Care+ must continue to meet all the local quality and cost outcomes criteria of the PCMH or OSC program. Designated providers will continue to be paid with value-based reimbursement that’s tied to quality and cost outcomes, rather than the traditional fee-for-service model.

For more information about Total Care, click here. For more information about our PCMH and OSC programs, see the About the Physician Group Incentive Program section of bcbsm.com/providers or visit valuepartnerships.com.