Blue Cross continues to support hospitals and health care professionals in fighting COVID-19

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has worked to give health care professionals and hospitals the support they needed as they cared for our members, along with other Michigan residents. Blue Cross’ Value Partnerships, particularly its Collaborative Quality Initiatives program, has played a key role in providing important resources.

Last summer, when leaders of Michigan Medicine’s University Hospital and Frankel Cardiovascular Center formed a task force to improve clinical care for critically ill COVID-19 patients, they reached out to Value Partnerships Director Tom Leyden. Together, they partnered to formulate a strategy to prepare Michigan hospitals and health care providers for a COVID-19 resurgence.

Leveraging the Mi-COVID19 Initiative — a joint CQI that falls under the auspices of the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Consortium — the task force organized weekly webinars for hospitals and care teams to share evidence-based resources for the care of COVID-19 patients. Blue Cross and Blue Care Network, as part of Value Partnerships, provided funding for the webinars as well as other clinical resources for Michigan hospitals.

“The CQI platform has always been such an incredible resource to the state of Michigan and to the larger national and international health care community,” Leyden said. “In 2020, with the arrival of the pandemic, we have been extremely impressed with the ability of CQIs to evolve and rapidly respond to the changing needs of their various provider communities in meeting the health care needs of their patients. The pace at which new learnings are coming out of the CQIs is awe-inspiring.”

Colleague Connect support line

The implementation of the Mi-COVID19 initiative was followed by the launch of Michigan Medicine’s COVID-19 Colleague Connect clinical support line. Funded by Blue Cross, the support line went live in late November.

“The clinical support line was designed to help mitigate escalation of COVID-19 symptoms with early intervention,” Greta Krapohl, Ph.D., said in a Michigan Medicine blog, “and to provide support and guidance to caregivers across the state as they work to stabilize, manage and treat these critically ill patients.”

The COVID-19 Colleague Connect phone line is staffed by critical care physicians, nurses and pharmacists with experience caring for critically ill COVID-19 patients. The support line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“The support line is to help clinicians around the state who have questions at 3 a.m. as they care for these very vulnerable and sick patients,” Krapohl said.

Calls to the support line often provide subject matter for topics featured in the Mi-COVID19 Initiative webinar series.

“When Michigan Medicine leadership approached us about the opportunity to provide an additional level of support to hospitals, providers and statewide ICU patients through the expansion of their clinical support line, we were thrilled to be able to support it,” Leyden said. “We’re so proud — and appreciative — of the incredible work being conducted through our statewide CQI platform, the majority of which is led by physician leaders from Michigan Medicine.”

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.