Four Michigan health systems have agreed to participate in Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's value-based hospital reimbursement model, bringing the total number of hospitals involved in its payment model to 45.
Under the reimbursement arrangements, hospitals are given the opportunity to achieve infrastructure funding to construct modern and efficient ways to coordinate patient care and manage population health. Hospitals then share part of the savings achieved when they and their affiliated physicians successfully work together to coordinate the delivery of quality, efficient and effective care.
“The emphasis on encouraging hospitals and physicians to work in close concert to improve patient care and lower costs is a key element in shifting our model of care from one based on volume, to one that focuses on providing high quality care at a lower cost,” said Daniel J. Loepp, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan in a prepared statement.
The four Michigan hospitals that have signed on to the initiative are: Detroit Medical Center, located in SE Michigan, which includes Harper University Hospital, Huron Valley Sinai, Detroit Receiving, and Sinai Grace Children's Hospital of Michigan; Allegiance Health, located in Jackson; Dickinson County Healthcare System, located in Iron Mountain; and Metro Health Hospital, located in Wyoming.
The reimbursement model, which began in 2011, requires hospitals to identify provider partners in the community, and collaborate to develop and implement an effective infrastructure plan that includes an all-patient registry system allowing doctors and nurses both in the hospital and office settings to measure an individual's health performance against similar populations. The aim is to promote coordination of care among all providers who treat the same patient.
