We’ve updated Blue Cross provider manual to improve user experience, fix functionality issues

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has made enhancements to its commercial PPO provider manual to improve the user experience and address some functionality issues. We’ve made these updates based on feedback we received from users of our online provider manual.

Here’s an overview of the enhancements:

• A new All Providers viewing selection is now available.
  
  Many users of our online manual who work with a variety of providers asked for a feature that would allow them to view the entire manual, instead of having to go back and forth to choose different provider types. To address this request, we created a new All Providers selection in the drop-down box that lists types of providers. When selected, All Providers displays all of the current provider manual chapters.
  
  Manual users can still select their preferred provider type. When they do, they’ll only see the chapters that apply to that provider type.

• The provider manual chapters now display content for all provider types.
  
  Some provider manual chapters previously only displayed content for the provider type selected. This led to confusion for some manual users who weren’t aware that the chapter information available to view varied by provider type. For this reason, we have revised provider manual chapters to display content for all provider types. Chapter content that applies only to certain provider types is clearly marked; otherwise, the content applies to all provider types.

Here’s a list of the functionality problems we corrected:

• PDFs with missing text: When manual users printed a PDF of a provider manual chapter, they reported that text often was missing at the top or bottom of the pages. This printing error has been corrected.
• Keyword search generating false results: Manual users reported that using the keyword search on the BCBSM Provider Manuals tab in Benefit Explainer sometimes resulted in false results. This keyword search error has been corrected.
• Keyword search now accepts multiple words: The two keyword fields used to accept only one word in each field. Now manual users can type multiple words in each keyword field.
  • If manual users want to pull up all the chapters that include multiple words in exact order, such as “claim status,” then they can type both words in the same field.
  • If manual users want to pull up all of the chapters that include either the word “claim” or the word “status,” then they should type each word in a separate field.
• Searching within a provider manual chapter is improved: Manual users may have experienced slowness when typing a word in a chapter search box. This has been corrected. We recommend, however, that they use Internet Explorer as their browser, as the Previous and Next buttons don’t function properly in Google Chrome.

Here are a few reminders:

• The PPO provider manual is great for looking up general Blue Cross policies.
  Here’s how to find it:
  • Log in as a provider at bcbsm.com.
  • Click on Provider Manuals on the right side of the page.
  • Click on PPO Provider Manual.
• At the bottom of the PPO Provider Manual webpage, you can click on Provider Manuals Updates and Training. This will take you to a page with more information about how to use the PPO provider manual and a list of recent updates.
• If you have a question about the PPO provider manual, contact ProviderManuals@bcbsm.com. This link is available at the bottom of the PPO Provider Manual webpage by clicking on Need Help?