Discuss health concerns addressed in Medicare Health Outcomes Survey with your patients

Beginning in July, some of your Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network patients with Medicare Advantage plans may receive the annual Health Outcomes Survey, or HOS, conducted by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The survey will ask them about the status of their physical and mental health, and whether they’ve been advised by their physician about fall prevention, managing urinary incontinence and physical activity.

How you can make a difference

The interactions you have with your patients directly affect the responses on the survey. Some patients may need your encouragement to discuss their concerns during their annual physical. Having discussions and advising them on the topics covered in the HOS improves your patients’ quality of life, engagement in their health and experience with your practice.

Here are some suggestions for topics to discuss at annual physicals:  

• Review and address any physical or emotional wellness concerns.
• Discuss and advise on appropriate exercise.
• Develop treatment plans with patients to address incontinence. 
• Discuss ways to prevent falls and improve balance.

How Blue Cross and BCN are supporting you

• Offering members incentives for annual wellness visits
• Sending members emails and letters to encourage them to have these conversations with you
• Providing health care providers with live and on-demand webinars to address incontinence, physical activity and fall prevention (See the “Find out more about HOS” section below for webinar information.)
• Providing members with the SilverSneakers^® program
• Providing informational resources

Find out more about HOS

Our CMS Star measures course has a module with more detail about the Health Outcomes Survey. Click here to log in to the provider training website and search for the course. Use the keyword “HOS.”

If you don’t already have access to the provider training website, you can easily create an account by clicking here. We recommend you use the same email address you use to communicate with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan when creating the account.

You can also check out our Health Outcomes Survey tip sheet for sample survey questions and tips for success.