Dive Brief:
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the University of Michigan Health System have announced a collaboration in which they will work with emergency physicians at participating hospitals across the state on developing best practices to improve patients' experiences and outcomes.
- The initiative, dubbed the Michigan Emergency Department Improvement Collaborative, is currently designing the data infrastructure and reporting system it will use to obtain information from the participating hospitals. Eight to ten hospitals are expected to participate initially, and the program plans to expand over the coming years.
- Michigan has a particular stake in this area; in 2013, the state's ED visit rate was 15% higher than the national average. The state received an average of 493 visits per 1,000 people while the national average was 423 per 1,000 people.
Dive Insight:
The initiative is one of 21 Collaborative Quality Initiatives (CQIs) now underway in the state in a variety of clinical and surgical areas. Among this group, the top five are credited with saving $597 million in statewide health costs between 2008 and 2012.
The latest CQI's goals are outlined as follows:
- Work together to improve the way emergency care is provided
- Evaluate current patterns of care to guide quality improvement efforts
- Develop tools to help providers help each other get better
- Drive performance by delivering accurate and timely feedback