Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has launched an initiative using claims data to help hospitals across the state better understand their practice patterns compared with their peers, in an effort to improve patient outcomes and manage costs.
Blue Care Network and the University of Michigan Health System will be part of the Michigan Value Collaborative, which will offer hospitals feedback about their utilization and payment and compare hospitals on cost, variation and how they use resources to deliver care based on analysis of claims data from BCBSM, the state's largest insurer, and soon Medicare.
Hospitals will be able to "use that data to better connect their care practices and costs with outcomes….then adjust their practice patterns to benefit patients and the overall efficiency of our healthcare system," David Share M.D., BCBSM senior vice president for value partnerships, said in a news release Tuesday.
Hospitals also receive similar comparative information about care delivered before and after patient hospitalizations.
Initially, the collaborative will target common procedures and conditions that are the most costly and have wide variations in treatment. Last week, the participating hospitals received their first reports on their performance with heart attacks, congestive heart failure, cardiac surgery, hip replacement and colon surgery, the release said. That list will expand to other conditions and procedures.
The Michigan Value Collaborative is part of Value Partnerships, a number of initiatives among physicians, hospitals and the Michigan Blues, aimed at improving quality and safety.