Michigan Value Collaborative: Providing data that drives quality and cost improvement

This is the first in a series of articles spotlighting the successes of the Michigan Value Collaborative.

When one of the participants at a Michigan Value Collaborative workgroup meeting shared details about the value of implementing an outpatient clinic for patients with congestive heart failure, a meeting attendee from MidMichigan Health took notice. Using MVC data and information gleaned from the meeting, she developed a business proposal showing how a clinic could reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes by ensuring timely follow-up visits after discharge from the hospital. MidMichigan eventually instituted a heart failure clinic.

This success was shared with other members of MVC during a semiannual meeting, which led to additional interest in the idea. The MVC Coordinating Center subsequently connected MidMichigan with Ascension Providence Rochester and another heart failure clinic was born. Soon, Ascension Macomb Oakland followed suit.

That’s just one example of how the networking and data provided by the Michigan Value Collaborative to hospitals and physicians across the state is helping improve patient outcomes and keep health care costs down. Additionally, MVC data allows health care providers to benchmark their utilization compared to other participating hospitals and see where there are opportunities for improvement.

The Michigan Value Collaborative uses claims data from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and other payers, including Medicare, to help participants better understand variations in health care use, identify best practices and lead interventions for improving care before, during and after hospitalization. Participating hospitals can access the MVC online data registry to evaluate trends in various areas of operation, including care utilization, readmissions and post-acute care.

“MVC helps hospitals and physician organizations better understand their performance, using robust multi-payer data through customized analytics and at-the-elbow support,” said Hari Nathan, director of MVC and an assistant professor of surgery with Michigan Medicine. “We distinguish ourselves from commercial data vendors in that we also provide a collaborative learning environment to enable providers to learn from one another in a cooperative, noncompetitive space. Our goal is simple: to work with Michigan providers to ensure that patients receive the right care, at the right time, at the right cost.”

The MVC is one of 17 Collaborative Quality Initiatives funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. It consists of 87 hospitals and 40 physician organizations. Unlike our other CQIs, which are focused on a specific condition, MVC analyzes claims data related to 37 medical and surgical conditions.

MVC shares information with providers in a wide variety of ways:

MVC online data registry
Monthly “push” reports
Ad-hoc analytic requests
Five regional networking dinners per year
Site visits
Webinars
Virtual workgroups
Collaborative-wide meetings held twice a year

In addition to sharing data, the semiannual meetings provide an opportunity to discuss timely topics that are of interest to hospitals and physician organizations. For example, Dr. S. George Kipa, deputy chief medical officer at Blue Cross, gave a presentation on telehealth at the November semiannual meeting.

“I was delighted to be able to speak to this group about a topic I’m passionate about — telehealth — and to look at how it might be used to help MVC further their quality improvement goals,” Dr. Kipa said. “Today, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s even more important. It’s become a critical lifeline for both patients and clinicians.”

To learn more

To find out more about the Michigan Value Collaborative, check out its website and blog or follow them on Twitter. These platforms provide an inside look at its successes in such areas as sepsis, chronic disease, joint replacement and CHF. If you’re interested in learning more about MVC or have any questions, you can reach the Coordinating Center at michiganvaluecollaborative@gmail.com.

We’ll bring you additional highlights of the program as the series continues in future issues of this newsletter. We’ll provide more details about MVC’s efforts in the area of congestive heart failure, look at what’s being done to reduce post-acute care utilization following knee and hip replacement and explore the role the group is playing in the development of our Hospital Pay-for-Performance Program.

No portion of this publication may be copied without the express written permission of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, except that BCBSM participating health care providers may make copies for their personal use. In no event may any portion of this publication be copied or reprinted and used for commercial purposes by any party other than BCBSM.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.