September 18, 2006

Fact sheet on proposed joint venture between
U-M Health System and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

In conjunction with the proposed sale of M-CARE to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and its HMO subsidiary, Blue Care Network, the U-M Health System and BCBSM are planning a new joint venture to foster a variety of health care research and quality-improvement projects that will benefit Michigan residents as well as initiatives that benefit Blues customers. Here are some key details:

• UMHS and BCBSM will be equal associates in the venture, blending their missions of benefiting the public as state-oriented nonprofit organizations that have solid experience in finding ways to make health care better. Blue Care Network and other BCBSM subsidiaries also will be closely involved with the work of the joint venture.
• The venture will commission quality-improvement projects and research studies that will aim to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and appropriateness of health care in Michigan.
• For example, projects might focus on ways to help people with diabetes manage their disease, improvements in specific types of surgery, insurance plans for the uninsured, and mammogram use. Any area of health care in which there is opportunity to improve the delivery of services, get the right care to the right person at the right time, prevent medical errors, reduce risks, avoid unnecessary treatment, or get more value for dollars spent would be a potential focus.
• Projects might also include demonstration projects that will measure the impact of specific changes in health care delivery or health benefits design, such as disease management programs or lower drug co-pays for patients with a specific disease, to see if such a change should be rolled out to broader groups of patients. Other projects might be designed to evaluate existing health and benefit programs and to look for opportunities to improve them.
• The venture will allow health experts from all areas of U-M, including the Health System, and from other institutions, to pursue projects under contract with the new entity. New projects will be proposed by the venture’s executive director and approved by its board. The board will have equal numbers of members from BCBSM and UMHS. Any use of data for research will be under the jurisdiction of the appropriate research-oversight process to protect patient privacy and rights.
• This venture builds on the existing association between BCBSM and UMHS, including the BCBSM Cardiovascular Consortium, an award-winning project that has saved lives and dollars by reducing angioplasty complications at Michigan hospitals.
• UMHS has long been a leader in finding ways to make health care better through quality-improvement efforts in its own clinical operations and by leading research and quality projects that involve many hospitals and physicians. For example, U-M doctors are joining with doctors at 16 other Michigan hospitals over the next three years to coordinate a statewide project, funded by BCBSM, to improve the quality of breast cancer care. U-M is also leading a statewide hospital patient-safety effort funded by the BCBSM Foundation. And the U-M Health System was among the first to participate in the BCBSM Physician Group Incentive Program, and the MHA Keystone intensive-care unit complication prevention program.
• Results or findings of many of the projects commissioned by the joint venture will be available for all health experts to share.

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