New resources to support staff and improve patient experience

During the past year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Patient Experience team incorporated member, doctor and physician organization feedback to shape the resources and support we provide to physician practices. Throughout 2023, we engaged with many practices and physician organizations across Michigan to improve patient interactions, access to care and care coordination.

New training for your staff

One of our newest all-staff training focuses on dealing with challenging patients. These sessions, available in person and virtually, provide strategies to remain calm and diffuse situations with upset patients and complement our Patient Communication session that offers best practices for a great patient experience.

Email PatientExperience@bcbsm.com for more information or to schedule a session.

Webinars on demand

Visit the on-demand page of our Patient Experience site for webinars and training. These sessions are created to fit into your schedule and can be accessed at any time. Current offerings include:

• Combatting Burnout in the Health Care Setting is a five-part series that helps health care workers manage stress and burnout by providing practical strategies to maintain their own well-being.
• A three-part series that focuses on the CG-CAHPS Care domains — Getting Care Quickly, Care Coordination and Getting Needed Care — provides tips to improve processes such as medication reconciliation, lab and other test result follow-up, managing in-office wait times, specialist referrals and getting routine appointments quickly.

See the Additional Resources page for more training opportunities.

Specialist referral tactic

Earlier this year, Blue Cross’ Patient Experience team released its specialist referral folder, a new tactic to help practices manage patient expectations when referred to specialists. The folder helps guide the conversation about the time it may take to get an appointment with common specialists, definitions, a spot for medication lists and the specialist’s contact information. Paperwork pertinent to the referral can be kept in the folder so everything the patient needs for a successful appointment is in one place.

Patient Experience resources include a variety of tactic materials that center around the CAHPS Care domains. Materials include handouts, signs, and other tools for patients and staff.

We’re updating our site to enable visitors to view tactic materials, including the specialist referral folder and many other materials, such as tactics to improve wait times, medication reconciliation, patient portal use and more. Check out the Patient Experience site for more information.

Coming soon

Visit our Patient Experience site to discover new content and register for upcoming webinars, including sessions on telehealth interactions and health equity.

For information or to request a patient experience consultation, email PatientExperience@bcbsm.com.