Unconscious bias training needed to be eligible for designation as Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care

As you’ve read in previous articles in our provider publications, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is adding an unconscious bias education requirement as part of our local plan criteria for the Blue Distinction^® Centers for Maternity Care program. 

This aligns with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s efforts to support maternal health equity actions, as well as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s commitment to developing a robust maternal health strategy. Our strategy is intended to enhance the experience of members seeking to build families, improve clinical outcomes for mothers and babies, and eliminate maternal health disparities. 

To be eligible for designation, with a Jan. 1, 2024, effective date, all physicians and certified nurse midwives (both hospital-based and those with hospital privileges) who deliver babies at the applicant facility must have completed unconscious bias education by June 1, 2023. If training is completed after June 1, the effective date of designation may be delayed.

The following providers are excluded from this requirement:

• Physicians and CNMs who aren’t currently practicing at the applicant facility at the time of the application’s submission (for example, those who have retired or left employment at the facility)
• Physician assistants, nurse practitioners and medical or surgical residents in training
• Emergency room physicians
• Locum tenens physicians and temporary CNMs
• Obstetric hospitalists and laborists

Applying facilities must attest to completion of an education program through a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan survey that will be administered by email. If a provider fails to complete unconscious bias education, then the provider will be considered “not eligible” for BDC status. This will result in the denial or loss of designation as a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care.

Unconscious bias education completed within the past 12 months will be accepted as satisfying this requirement. The recommended free online courses listed below are available to those who have not yet completed their training.

• Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Maternal Health Care:
  thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/maternal-health-care/**
• Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth:
  diversityscience.org/perinatal-care-equity/**

**Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan doesn’t own or control this website.