5 questions with Dr. Grant

It’s been more than a year since we sat down with Dr. James Grant, senior vice president and chief medical officer, to ask him some questions, so we thought it was time to get his thinking on some key topics.

1. Since you have just passed your two-year anniversary as CMO with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, we were wondering: What has been your proudest achievement so far?

I’m most proud of the clinical leadership team that we’ve been able to assemble. I am a firm believer that you need physician involvement throughout the enterprise to ensure that health care providers have a voice at the table. Many programs and initiatives that Blue Cross implements for the purpose of improving health care delivery have direct impacts on physicians. We’re ensuring we have physician perspective on key decisions that will affect our various stakeholders.

We have recently hired Dr. Binesh Patel, senior medical director and associate CMO for quality and affordability, who will help drive much-needed value-focused changes to the ecosystem. We’re also in the process of hiring two additional physician leaders, one of whom will focus on health equity and work to integrate health equity into our key processes. The other leadership position will focus on care delivery experience and work to optimize interactions with the health care system for all Blue Cross stakeholders.

2. What do you see as the most pressing challenges facing the health insurance industry in 2023?

As a physician, the economic dynamics that are impacting providers is top of mind for me. We need to ensure that our provider community has the resources necessary to thrive in an increasingly value-based health care ecosystem. As our Blueprint for Affordability risk-contracting gains momentum in both the commercial PPO and the Medicare Advantage PPO, we’re working to ensure that the health care ecosystem is working effectively for all stakeholders: members, customers and physicians.

3. What is the best piece of leadership advice you’ve ever received?

Early in my career, a mentor gave me advice that has stuck with me to this day: Always do what is best for the patient (member) and let everything else follow. As both a physician and leader at Blue Cross, the main objective for both roles is the same: Enhance the health and well-being of those in our communities. Our clinical leadership team lives this each day.

4. I understand you were the keynote speaker at the third annual Henry Ford Health System CQI Symposium Sept. 13. What can you tell us about that event?

I am so proud of the Collaborative Quality Initiatives portfolio. There are currently 23 CQIs, each of which focuses on a specific clinical opportunity. With support from Blue Cross, these physician- and hospital-led CQIs address many of the most common and costly areas of surgical and medical care, such as reducing blood transfusions after orthopedic surgery and decreasing complications following trauma surgery. More than 100 hospitals and 10,000 physicians participate in at least one CQI, representing more than 8.4 million patients (roughly equivalent to 80% of Michigan’s population).

The CQI portfolio was recently recognized in the New England Journal of Medicine: Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery, which highlights the impact that CQIs have had on the evolution of health care delivery in Michigan.

The Henry Ford Health System CQI Symposium was a great opportunity to share the successes of our CQI work and gain momentum for the future of CQIs, which is very bright.

5. What is one challenge that you feel will continue to get more traction throughout the industry in the next few years?

Health equity is critically important and a key objective for my team. The unfortunate reality is that there are significant barriers in some of our communities that prevent people from attaining their highest level of health. Those in certain ethnic and racial groups generally experience poorer health and higher disease prevalence relating to chronic conditions. We need to address the social determinants of health that are driving health inequities so we can give everyone a better opportunity to live a happy and healthy life.

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