Henry Ford Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Announce Partnership

Detroit – Henry Ford Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan today announced they have finalized a new partnership agreement centered on high-value care and affordability. The agreement reflects months of collaborative design and alignment on long-term goals between the two organizations and aims to drive improvements in health care access, quality and cost.

For Henry Ford Health, the partnership model reinforces its position as a national leader in high-value care, which includes high quality, innovative care along with a commitment to affordability. As part of this long-term partnership, Blue Cross and Henry Ford Health will incorporate a value-based reimbursement component that emphasizes quality care and accountability. By incentivizing prevention and wellness, value-based reimbursement models allow payers and providers to better coordinate care for patients, leading to better health outcomes for the people the organizations mutually serve. 

“This partnership reflects what’s possible when two mission-driven organizations work together with shared purpose,” said Bob Riney, President and CEO of Henry Ford Health. “We jointly designed an agreement that prioritizes value, outcomes, affordability, and equity. High-value care has always been central to Henry Ford Health, and this agreement strengthens our ability to help the communities we serve stay healthy and access the highest quality, affordable care when they are sick or injured.”

The partnership model establishes unified outcome metrics across commercial and Medicare Advantage plans, focuses on excellent patient experience and care coordination, and incorporates shared strategies to manage rising pharmaceutical and gene therapy costs. It also ensures participating members can fully benefit from Henry Ford Health’s integrated, high-performing system.

“We believe the health care system works best when we all work together,” said Tricia Keith, President and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. “Our new multi-year partnership with Henry Ford Health enables us to advance our shared missions of improving patient care while combating the health care affordability crisis. By working together and incorporating value-based payment, we can lead Michigan toward a more affordable, sustainable health care system.”

This agreement builds on Henry Ford Health’s commitment to fully integrate high-value care into its operations. Henry Ford Health recently established its Value-Based Enterprise, encompassing everything that surrounds the system’s care delivery operations to advance high-value care, including:

• Integrated physician network: Mosaic Clinically Integrated Network brings together more than 5,000 providers in a connected system focused on delivering high-value care to more than 600,000 people.
• Population health infrastructure: Populance, the system’s population health and care management subsidiary, supports the care of more than 500,000 patients.
• Preventive care focus: A strong emphasis on prevention and proactive care keeps people healthier over the long term.
• Adoption of advanced technology: Innovative technologies, including precision health, are used to personalize care to each individual.

Blue Cross has championed value-based reimbursement for more than 20 years via a collection of programs aimed at improving health outcomes and delivering coordinated, proactive care. These leading programs include:

• Value Partnerships: A collection of 20,000-plus physicians and 100-plus hospitals that collaboratively work together to lower unnecessary costs and improve patient care. 
• Patient-Centered Medical Home: A team-based, proactive model that focuses on each patient’s health needs and coordinates patient care across all settings. PCMH designated practices deliver care to roughly 3 million Blue Cross members in Michigan.
• Blueprint for Affordability: A partnership model that aligns provider incentives, financial accountability, and enhanced data and analytics to drive better outcomes for members.

All these efforts are designed to improve quality and experience while decreasing overall healthcare costs and ensuring patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time.

Henry Ford Health and Blue Cross will continue working closely together to provide excellent care, support patients and providers, and advance innovative approaches that make high quality healthcare more accessible and affordable for all Michiganders.

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