We’ve announced our Collaborative Care designations

We recently announced that 239 primary care practices and five OB/GYN practices have been designated for our Collaborative Care Designation Program for the September 2023 through August 2024 designation cycle. This was the first year that OB/GYN practices were included in the program.

Designated practices deliver care using the highly effective Collaborative Care Model. Collaborative Care adds a behavioral health component to the partnership between a patient and their PCMH-designated physician.

The Collaborative Care team consists of a doctor, who is the head of a care team, a behavioral health care manager and a consulting psychiatrist. These individuals work collaboratively to ensure patients get the care they need.

This approach can help improve the behavioral health of Michigan residents, addressing both mental health and substance use disorder conditions. Collaborative Care can also improve the overall health of Michiganders by providing value-based care that helps avoid emergency room visits and duplicative services.

As we explained in a Hospital and Physician Update article on Collaborative Care, a primary care practice must have a Patient-Centered Medical Home designation and meet certain criteria to receive the Collaborative Care designation. The criteria, which consist of a set of capabilities, reflect elements that a practice needs to have to effectively deliver care using the Collaborative Care Model.

The largest concentration of Collaborative Care practices is in Southeast Michigan and the west side of the state.

The Collaborative Care Model has been in use by early adopters in Michigan since 2015. After reviewing preliminary results from those early adopters, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan launched a formal training program for primary care practices seeking to implement Collaborative Care in 2020, along with an incentive structure for learning about and using the model.

Practices that would like to earn a PCMH or Collaborative Care designation are encouraged to reach out to their physician organization for details.