03 Nov 2023
0
View Post
MVC, MUSIC Estimate Significant Reduction in Opioid Spending After Kidney Stone Surgery

MVC, MUSIC Estimate Significant Reduction in Opioid Spending After Kidney Stone Surgery

November 3, 2023 | 0 Comments | , , ,

In 2019, more than 71,000 people died from drug overdoses, making it a leading cause of injury-related death in the United States. Nearly 70% of those overdoses involved a prescription or illicit opioid. The economic cost of the U.S. opioid epidemic was estimated to be $1,021 billion as of 2017 and rising. It is for this reason that clinicians and health systems have adopted evidence-based practices for reducing the number and amount of opioid prescriptions ordered for their patients. It is both clinically and economically significant, then, that the Michigan Value Collaborative (MVC) was recently part of an analysis that estimated over $4.8 million in avoided opioid prescription spending after kidney stone surgery.

MVC identified these savings in partnership with the Michigan Urological Surgery Improvement Collaborative (MUSIC), a physician-led quality improvement collaborative comprised of urology practices across the state of Michigan. MUSIC works to evaluate and improve the quality and cost-efficiency of urologic care. Since 2011, the MUSIC team has led prostate-related quality improvement activities such as improving patterns of care in the radiographic staging of men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer, reducing prostate biopsy-related hospitalizations, and enhancing the appropriateness of treatment decisions. In 2016, MUSIC expanded its scope of work to kidney stone surgery and in 2017 to small renal masses.

With kidney stone incidence on the rise affecting both men and women, MUSIC created a program focused on Reducing Operative Complications from Kidney Stones (ROCKS). It focuses on improving the quality of care for kidney stone patients, particularly by decreasing modifiable emergency department (ED) visits for expected symptoms and side effects of ureteroscopy (URS) or shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) surgeries that are typically avoidable. MUSIC ROCKS aims to minimize these by developing resources that help patients manage their pain and urinary tract symptoms following kidney stone surgery.

Since its formation, the MUSIC ROCKS initiative led to the development of stent omission appropriateness criteria, a URS vs. SWL patient-provider shared decision aid, standardized patient education, and recommendations for postoperative pain control regimens. The ROCKS pain control optimization (POP) guidelines were developed in 2019 and recommended prescribing no opioids following kidney stone surgery. The goal of these guidelines is to minimize opioid use in patients undergoing kidney stone surgery while maintaining patient safety and satisfaction.

The MUSIC Coordinating Center reached out to MVC in 2022 to help assess the impact of its ROCKS initiative on opioid prescription use following surgery. The goal was to estimate MUSIC ROCK's impact on opioid utilization and prescribing rates following URS or SWL kidney surgeries in Michigan, as well as the related impact on the value of care.

METHODOLOGY

Data Sources & Study Population

MVC kidney stone surgery episodes were used for this analysis, which compared outcomes between URS and SWL procedures for MUSIC and non-MUSIC providers. It was restricted to kidney stone surgery claims for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) and Blue Care Network (BCN) Commercial and Medicare Advantage plans between Jan. 1, 2015 and July 31, 2022. The cohort was further restricted to BCBSM/BCN-insured patients with no opioid prescription fills in the 90 days prior to their surgery who were continuously enrolled in a prescription sub-plan 90 days prior to surgery through 30 days post-surgery. The final cohort used in the opioid analysis included 14,967 Michigan patients.

Methodological Approach

The study population was identified using professional claims for MVC kidney stone surgery episodes that occurred within the index dates of the surgery. All professional claims missing a provider NPI on the claim were excluded. The remaining NPIs were characterized by information derived from the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) data set. Claims of providers or facilities outside of the state of Michigan were also excluded. The remaining NPIs were then categorized into MUSIC and non-MUSIC categories. Opioid utilization was assessed through the presence of paid outpatient opioid prescription claims in the 30 days following surgery.

Limitations

Approximately 90% of Michigan urologists participate in MUSIC. However, only 58% of all MVC kidney stone surgery episodes were identified as being performed by a MUSIC provider via National Provider Identifier (NPI). Some MUSIC providers may be performing these procedures on patients with an insurance plan not reflected in MVC data. It could also be related to MVC's episode structure. Episodes are mutually exclusive; therefore, if a patient were to have a hospitalization prior to their surgery that resulted in an MVC episode creation, their care would not be classified as a kidney stone surgery episode. It is also possible that billing NPI was not always a reliable field.

Second, MVC only has outpatient prescription claims for BCBSM and BCN patients with a prescription sub-plan. For this analysis, only BCBSM-insured patients were assessed. As a result, only about 35% of MVC's URS and SWL episodes were included in assessing opioid utilization. Furthermore, the analysis is of opioid utilization, not provider prescribing patterns. Given that a claim is only generated once a prescription is filled, this analysis cannot provide a full picture of changes in provider prescribing patterns.

FINDINGS & NEXT STEPS

Among the BCBSM/BCN-insured patients who underwent kidney stone surgery between 2015 and 2021, 50.3% of patients on average filled an opioid prescription within 30 days of surgery, with a higher average opioid utilization rate among SWL patients (54.9%) than among URS patients (47.4%). There was a strong decline in opioid utilization after 2017 across Michigan for both types of procedures (Figure 1), with lower utilization following URS.

 

Figure 1.

Notably, the rate of opioid utilization after kidney stone surgeries performed by MUSIC providers is consistently lower than those performed by non-MUSIC providers (Figure 2). For example, among URS procedures performed by MUSIC providers after 2016, 43.8% resulted in an opioid fill on average, whereas an average of 53.8% of procedures performed by non-MUSIC providers resulted in an opioid fill. In addition, the absolute decrease in opioid prescription fill rates was greater for MUSIC providers. These trends were similar for SWL surgeries, with consistently lower average opioid utilization rates among patients treated by MUSIC providers (52.1%) vs. non-MUSIC providers (60.9%).

Figure 2.

MVC further estimated cost savings from the reduction in opioid prescription fills by examining differences in 365-day prescription payments among the MUSIC cohort. The changes in opioid prescribing resulted in an estimated yearly average savings of $2,712 per patient from reduced opioid prescription fills post-surgery. Using this estimated savings, MVC multiplied the number of URS procedures performed each year by MUSIC providers combined with the yearly percent reduction from baseline in opioid prescribing to further estimate a savings of over $4.8 million from avoided opioid prescription payments since 2016.

The notable decreases in both prescribing rates and prescription payments demonstrate the substantial impact of the MUSIC ROCKS initiative on opioid utilization after kidney stone surgery, including a likely reduction in the total number of filled opioids circulating in the Michigan community as a result of fewer patients receiving prescriptions. MVC completed a similar analysis in partnership with MUSIC looking at prescribing patterns after prostate surgery, and estimated that MUSIC providers helped avert an estimated $1.6 million in avoided opioid prescription spending.

MVC’s expertise and data frequently result in partner projects like this; MVC completed several CQI impact assessments last year, as well as several more so far in 2024. MVC also participates in collaborative activities with peer CQIs through new condition and report development, data analysis and metric consultation, and data matching exercises that pair clinical and claims-based data. To request a copy of any of MVC’s completed CQI impact assessments, please contact the MVC Coordinating Center.

14 Sep 2023
0
View Post
MVC Announces Registration, Speakers for its Oct. 20 Fall Collaborative-Wide Meeting

MVC Announces Registration, Speakers for its Oct. 20 Fall Collaborative-Wide Meeting

September 14, 2023 | 0 Comments | , , ,

The MVC Coordinating Center is excited to announce open registration for its upcoming Fall Collaborative-Wide Meeting on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., in Lansing, MI. This meeting’s theme is “High-Value Care for All: Collaborative Approaches to Equitable Healthcare,” and will focus on how interdisciplinary collaboration can support efforts to reduce disparities and provide equitable healthcare.

This meeting will include presentations on health equity frameworks for quality improvement, insights from claims-based data, and inter-organizational partnerships to improve patient outcomes. MVC is thrilled to be joined by Renée Branch Canady, PhD, MPA, CEO of the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI), as its keynote speaker. Dr. Canady has extensive experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, and was recognized as Crain’s 2021 Notable Executives in DEI. She received this honor for her work implementing incremental changes in health equity and social justice at MPHI. Under her leadership, MPHI established the Staff of Color Affinity Group, the Center for Health Equity Practice (CHEP), and the Center for Culturally Responsive Engagement (CCRE). She also recently published a new book titled Room at the Table: A Leader’s Guide to Advancing Health Equity and Justice.

The MVC Coordinating Center will also present MVC data linked with supplemental social determinants of health data sets, updates about the MVC Component of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) Pay-for-Performance (P4P) Program, and other Coordinating Center updates.

MVC’s fall collaborative-wide meeting will also feature a new roundtable format with insights from a wide variety of guest speakers, including Nora Becker, Michigan Medicine; Diane Hamilton, Corewell Health Trenton; Matthias Kirch, Michigan Social Health Interventions to Eliminate Disparities (MSHIELD); Laura Mispelon, Michigan Center for Rural Health; Amanda Sweetman, the Farm at Trinity Health; Larrea Young and Noa Kim, Healthy Behavior Optimization for Michigan (HBOM); and Thomas West, U-M Health West. Attendees will rotate through several mini-presentations and discussions about specific health equity topics, such as demographic data collection and patient screening practices, developing and funding community benefit programs, addressing transportation access barriers, support programs within rural communities, tobacco cessation interventions, financial toxicity risks for patients, and more.

Attendees will have multiple opportunities to network and learn from their peers. The meeting includes a mid-day poster session to highlight success stories and research across the collaborative and the broader CQI portfolio. MVC is still actively accepting poster submissions through 10/5/2023 that feature first-hand experiences with quality improvement, related research, or the implementation of interventions and best practices. They can be on topics unrelated to health equity or MVC conditions/data, authored by clinicians and non-clinicians alike, or presentations already shared at a recent conference or event. Instructions for submitting a poster are available on MVC’s events page. The meeting also includes breakout sessions in the afternoon focused on regional trends and opportunities using MVC data and member insights, as well as an optional networking reception at the conclusion of the event, from 3-4 p.m.

Those able to attend MVC's fall collaborative-wide meeting may register here. MVC hosts two collaborative-wide meetings each year to bring together healthcare quality leaders and clinicians from across the state.

CME CREDITS AVAILABLE

The University of Michigan Medical School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The University of Michigan Medical School designates this live activity for a maximum of 3.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Activity Planners

Hari Nathan, MD, PhD; Erin Conklin, MPA; Chelsea Pizzo, MPH; Chelsea Andrews, MPH; Kristy Degener, MPH

18 Aug 2023
0
View Post
MEDIC Helps EDs in Michigan Improve Care for Adults, Children

MEDIC Helps EDs in Michigan Improve Care for Adults, Children

August 18, 2023 | 0 Comments |

Serving a spectrum of functions, emergency departments (EDs) provide essential care and services, operating in the critical space between outpatient and inpatient care. EDs also serve as a safety net within the US healthcare landscape by performing necessary clinical services for populations who may not otherwise have access. Patients visiting the ED may undergo a wide range of rapid diagnostic and treatment options, ranging from unscheduled procedures, laboratory testing, utilization of basic and advanced imaging studies, and admission of patients to the hospital. Despite the ED’s critical role and services, there are few coordinated, scalable efforts to improve care quality in the ED. These realities within emergency medicine made it a prime opportunity for quality improvement (Kocher et al., 2019), which was the impetus for adding an emergency medicine-focused Collaborative Quality Initiative (CQI) to the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) Value Partnerships portfolio.

The Michigan Emergency Department Improvement Collaborative (MEDIC) was founded in 2015 to address the critical gap in coordinated quality improvement in the ED, including intervention design through implementation and evaluation, at scale, across health systems. Michigan Value Collaborative (MVC) members recently heard about MEDIC and its work as part of the launch of MVC’s new ED-based episodes and reporting; MEDIC and MVC collaborated on the development of this new episode of care data structure.

MEDIC’s quality improvement efforts to date have included initiatives such as improved appropriateness of head CT imaging utilization for children and adults with minor head injuries, greater CT diagnostic yield for adults with suspected pulmonary embolism, decreased use of chest x-rays in children with respiratory illness (i.e., asthma, croup, bronchiolitis), higher rates of ED discharge for children with asthma and adults with low-risk chest pain, and increased distribution of take-home naloxone to patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) or who experience opioid overdose or withdrawal.

MEDIC Success Stories

Since 2017, MEDIC participating sites have significantly improved collaborative-wide performance on all MEDIC quality measures. By reducing unnecessary imaging utilization and decreasing unwarranted hospitalization rates from the ED, MEDIC positively impacted the emergency care experience for thousands of patients in Michigan who received more evidence-based care and fewer low-value services. These improvements also contributed to an estimated total reduction in the ED cost burden in the millions of dollars (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Zach Sawaya, MD, an emergency physician at MyMichigan Medical Center, reflected positively on the benefits of partnering with MEDIC on specific quality improvement initiatives. "MEDIC has pushed our group to be more cognizant of our imaging use, in particular in the pediatric population,” he said. “We've seen significant improvements in our rates of pediatric head CTs and chest X-rays that have been driven by MEDIC-provided data and decision-making resources.  In particular, we've seen wait times on pediatric head injuries go down as parents have been very open to discussion of PECARN rules and foregoing head imaging.”

The fact that MEDIC’s efforts support patients of all ages within its participating sites is unique; MEDIC is one of only a few CQIs with initiatives focused on pediatric patients. The MEDIC 2023 pay-for-performance incentive program, for example, focused on performance improvement on its pediatric-specific metrics. A key goal of this work was to ensure that children receiving emergency care in community hospital EDs received the same high-quality evidence-based care delivered in a pediatric emergency center. Since there are only three Michigan pediatric centers—all members of MEDIC—most children receive emergency care in community hospital EDs, and MEDIC observed disparities in the quality of emergency care delivered to children treated in community EDs. Children seen in community EDs were less likely to receive evidence-based care, as measured by our quality initiatives, than those seen in pediatric centers. In an emergency, patients can’t often choose which ED to go to, rather they need to go to the closest option. Over time and with participation in MEDIC, the data indicate MEDIC community hospitals improved their collective performance on MEDIC pediatric measures to be nearly on par with that of pediatric specialty hospitals.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting impact on EDs also put MEDIC in a unique position. Within days of the pandemic being declared in the US, the MEDIC team pivoted from its standard work to support the COVID-19 response by leveraging its collaborative-wide learning network to support frontline efforts. MEDIC rapidly assembled a platform for informal and formal discussion between member EDs, which manifested as a series of virtual town halls and Grand Rounds focused on information exchanges among colleagues to rapidly innovate and meet challenges as the situation evolved.

This series began with lessons learned from the experience of its southeast Michigan EDs where the pandemic first unfolded in Michigan. This allowed sites in other areas of Michigan to understand what they would likely experience in the coming weeks or months, giving them valuable preparation time. Over several weeks, these well-attended sessions focused on the following topics: conservation of PPE, management of COVID-19 respiratory failure, special considerations for the pediatric population, and supporting the wellness of the ED workforce.

MEDIC – ED Partnerships

EDs partner with MEDIC in two primary ways: data collection and collaborative engagement in quality improvement. To participate in MEDIC, a partner ED must establish a flow of electronic health data for all ED visits to the MEDIC data registry as well as provide additional abstracted data, facilitated by a data abstractor hired with support from BCBSM. This then allows MEDIC to provide detailed evaluation and performance reporting on all measured quality initiatives, which in turn helps facilitate and inform site quality improvement interventions. MEDIC provides member hospitals with a level of insight into their ED practice patterns that would not be possible without participating in the collaborative.

In addition to being able to understand their data, participating in MEDIC allows hospitals to learn from one another, which significantly shortens the learning curve for improvement. Each site’s emergency medicine physician champion and abstractor(s) lead local intervention design and implementation, participate in MEDIC tri-annual collaborative-wide meetings, and share experiences and lessons learned with collaborative peers. MEDIC provides quality improvement evidence, guidelines, standardized performance measurement, data visualization, evaluation, and support for local intervention efforts.

MEDIC currently partners with hospital EDs across the state. Any sites not currently partnered with MEDIC are encouraged to visit their recruitment page for more information on becoming a member and contacting the team.

As MVC continues to build its offerings for members, the coordinating center is cognizant that hospitals and providers partner with multiple CQIs. MVC posts regular blogs about some of its peer CQIs to showcase their activities and highlight collaborations with MVC. Please reach out to the MVC Coordinating Center with questions.

03 Aug 2023
0
View Post
MVC Develops PO Post-Discharge and ED-Based Episode Reports

MVC Develops PO Post-Discharge and ED-Based Episode Reports

August 3, 2023 | 0 Comments | ,

The Michigan Value Collaborative (MVC) recently completed the development of two new push reports tailored to physician organizations (POs). Both reports mirrored hospital-level push reports distributed earlier this summer and reflect MVC’s ongoing approach to refining and tailoring its analytic offerings to the patient populations and needs of its diverse membership. The first new PO report of 2023 was released in July and focused on post-discharge care, and the second is set to be released next week using new emergency department (ED)-based episodes.

PO ED-Based Episodes Report

The forthcoming PO ED-based episode report features MVC’s new ED-based episode data for five high-volume ED conditions: chest pain, abdominal pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure (CHF), and cellulitis. A hospital-level version was distributed in June.

ED-based episodes are a new episode of care structure developed by MVC in collaboration with the Michigan Emergency Department Improvement Collaborative (MEDIC). These episodes are initialized by a patient’s visit to the ED and include all claims-documented care received in the 30 days following a patient’s index ED visit.

For each of the five index conditions included in this forthcoming report, POs will receive information on risk-adjusted and price-standardized 30-day total episode payments, same-day inpatient admission rates over time, utilization of healthcare services across an attributed patient’s 30-day episode of care, and the hospitals where a PO’s attributed patients most frequently presented to the ED for a given index condition. Patient claims data were included for adult patients aged 18 and older who had an ED visit between 1/1/21 and 8/31/22 and were insured by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) PPO Commercial, BCBSM Medicare Advantage (MA), or Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS).

Among POs receiving a report, average risk-adjusted, price-standardized 30-day total episode payments for the five reported conditions were highest for CHF ED-based episodes ($16,936) followed by COPD ED-based episodes ($10,286), and lowest for unspecified chest pain ($3,714). Within each condition, MVC 30-day total episode payments were consistently higher for episodes in which the attributed patient had a same-day inpatient admission compared to episodes in which the attributed patient did not have an inpatient stay begin on the date of their ED visit.

A key goal for these ED-based episode reports was to provide insight into healthcare utilization following index ED visits. Therefore, reports included a dot plot (Figure 1) comparing each PO’s post-ED utilization for their attributed patients compared to the average across all 40 MVC member POs.

Figure 1.

PO Skilled Nursing Facility & Home Health Report

In July, MVC distributed PO-level reports on post-discharge care that included metrics on skilled nursing facility and home health utilization. A hospital-level version was distributed in June. The purpose of this report was to support understanding of care coordination opportunities and benchmark post-discharge care utilization.

This report highlighted various SNF and home health utilization metrics using 30-day claims-based episodes for MVC’s medical conditions: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), atrial fibrillation, COPD, CHF, endocarditis, pneumonia, sepsis, small bowel obstruction, and stroke. A PO’s attributed patient episodes were included if they had an inpatient admission between 1/1/2021 and 6/30/2022 and were insured by BCBSM PPO Commercial, BCBSM MA, or Medicare FFS.

As with other PO-level push reports, MVC included several comparison groups to aid individual POs in benchmarking their performance for select report metrics. Each PO can compare their data to the average for POs of a similar size, the average for POs located within the same geographic region of Michigan according to MVC’s region designations, and the collaborative-wide average for all MVC member POs. Only POs with 20 or more episodes in 2021 and 11 or more in 2022 received a report and were included in comparison group calculations.

Similar to the hospital-level version, the first page of the report contained a SNF and home health profile table (Figure 2), which provided an overall look at post-discharge utilization patterns by payer as well as information about a given PO's patient population. The first three metrics reflected all attributed patients treated for medical conditions in this time period for the included payers and the metrics in gray were comprised only of attributed patients who utilized SNF in the 30 days post-discharge from their episode's index hospitalization. Overall, MVC found that Medicare FFS patients utilized SNF and home health services more often.

Figure 2.

Measures in this report include SNF and home health utilization rates overall and by condition, SNF and home health utilization rates among patients discharged to their home, inpatient readmission rates for SNF and home health utilizers, and a list of the most frequently utilized SNFs and home health providers to help POs understand where their attributed patients are going when receiving SNF or home health care after discharge. MVC presented 30-day overall SNF and home health utilization rates in a caterpillar plot format to showcase variation across POs. These rates varied between roughly 9% and 16% for SNF utilization (Figure 3) and between 19% and 32% for home health utilization (Figure 4).

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

MVC observed average 30-day inpatient readmission rates of 21% among attributed PO patients discharged to SNF (Figure 5) and 17.2% among attributed patients discharged to home health (Figure 6).

Figure 5.

Figure 6.

New Report Distribution Process

MVC piloted a new method for distributing its push reports when sending out the PO SNF/HH reports and is continuing that method for the distribution of its PO ED-based episode reports. Over the summer, PO site coordinators received an email from Dropbox as well as from MVC with a link to their PO’s designated Dropbox folder. Since then, MVC has been working to confirm that contacts are able to successfully access their designated folder and reports.

This new report distribution process will allow MVC’S contacts to access all available MVC reports in a single, secure location, and address some of the email firewall issues experienced by some members. Going forward, members may access and download their individualized reports using Dropbox rather than receiving reports through email. When a new report is made available to members, MVC will still notify all recipients via email with the details of the report. MVC plans to launch this new report distribution process with its hospital partners in the coming months, beginning with Program Year 2023 mid-year scorecards for the MVC Component of the BCBSM Pay-for-Performance (P4P) Program.

If you have any follow-up questions about your site’s latest push reports or the new report distribution process, please contact the MVC Coordinating Center at Michigan-Value-Collaborative@med.umich.edu.

20 Jul 2023
0
View Post
MVC Calls Attention to Research, Resources During Week-Long Preoperative Testing Campaign

MVC Calls Attention to Research, Resources During Week-Long Preoperative Testing Campaign

July 20, 2023 | 0 Comments | ,

Prior to surgery, most Michigan patients will undergo a series of tests, such as blood draws, urinalysis, chest x-rays, or electrocardiograms (ECGs/EKGs). Many of these tests are unnecessary for healthy patients undergoing low-risk procedures such as groin hernia repair. Routine preoperative testing is widely considered a low-value service, and yet a majority of hospitals continue to order these tests. In an effort to drive improvement in this area, MVC hosted its second annual preoperative testing awareness campaign this week.

“For a patient, it is key they get the right amount of preoperative assessment,” said Dr. Michael Englesbe, professor of surgery at the University of Michigan, director of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan-funded Collaborative Quality Initiatives, director of the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative (MSQC), and co-director of the Michigan Opioid Prescribing and Engagement Network (Michigan OPEN). “Too little testing and important risks may be missed, too much and patients may be exposed to critical risks of unnecessary testing and delays in care.”

MVC’s Coordinating Center supports preoperative testing de-implementation in several ways. One is providing opportunities for MVC’s members to collaborate and learn from one another. This year MVC launched a workgroup series focused on preoperative testing, the first of which took place in March. As part of its campaign this week, MVC promoted the next session in this workgroup series, set to take place Tues., Aug. 1, from 1-2 p.m. featuring guest speaker Nick Berlin, MD, MPH, MS. Those interested in this topic should register to attend here.

Another key strategy MVC uses to support preoperative testing de-implementation is through data analysis and reporting. MVC analysts utilize administrative claims data to calculate testing rates in the preoperative period, and then share these results with members as reports or as unblinded data at collaborative-wide meetings. More recently, MVC partnered with MSQC to distribute these reports more widely to support cross-collaboration between clinical and quality personnel at a given site.

These reports are an invaluable resource in benchmarking the extent of the issue statewide, says Dr. Hari Nathan, MVC’s director and the chief of hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery at Michigan Medicine. “MVC data can be used by hospitals and providers to understand how their rates of preoperative testing compare to those of other hospitals in Michigan,” he said. “By focusing on a homogeneous cohort of healthy patients undergoing common, low-risk surgical procedures, MVC benchmarks can help all hospitals understand where they have an opportunity to improve, regardless of facility size, resources, or patient population.”

Across the collaborative, MVC sees wide variation in preoperative testing for low-risk elective surgeries like hernia repairs and lumpectomies, with testing rates among young, healthy patients ranging from 10% to 97% across MVC hospitals. This level of interhospital variation is evidence that many hospitals in Michigan are safely performing low-risk surgeries without widespread preoperative testing and that even those hospitals with average rates likely have room to safely reduce their testing further.

MVC also sees quite a bit of intrahospital variation, with certain surgeries driving the overall preoperative testing rate at a given site. Based on the findings of its latest report, one potential area of focus for sites may be reducing the rate of cardiac testing; the rate of ECGs is quite variable across the collaborative and could lead to a cascade of care.

MVC shared its refreshed preoperative testing push report with members in April and also held a report review webinar in June to review the measures included. This webinar also included advice from Dr. Nathan about how to take action using this data. Dr. Nathan promoted several new resources developed in partnership by MSQC, the Michigan Program on Value Enhancement (MPrOVE), and MVC. These include a customizable decision aid (Figure 1), which sites can download to add their branding or modify. It is accompanied by a similarly customizable preoperative testing reference chart (Figure 2).

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Both of these resources are currently housed on a new Waive the Workup de-implementation resource website managed by MPrOVE, MSQC, and MVC. In addition to pages for the decision aid and chart, the site also offers talking points for debunking common myths about preoperative testing. For instance, one common counterargument to reducing preoperative testing prior to low-risk surgery is a perception that there’s no harm in ordering them, either because they are relatively inexpensive or because they are not invasive tests.

On the contrary, research has established substantial financial costs and risks to patient harm because of preoperative testing, which can and should be safely reduced. Mihir Surapaneni, BBA, a medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School, has been conducting research with MVC on preoperative testing and its impact. “One of the major theories for why there’s so much variability—and indeed just a high utilization rate—for preoperative testing is that there’s no perceived downside,” Surapaneni said. “Many of these tests are relatively cheap compared to the total cost of healthcare and indeed most of them cost no more to the patient than a stick of blood, but we really have to consider that there are costs. Preoperative testing costs billions of dollars in the United States healthcare system annually, and when you consider how strained the healthcare system is and how much of an onus there is on payers and the government to decrease costs, this really adds up. And secondly, we have to consider the possibility of testing cascades—which has been well-documented—in that a patient comes in having an abnormal lab value or test that actually had nothing to do with their intended surgery, and this leads to more and more tests which are expensive and potentially invasive. And finally, we have to consider that there’s established literature showing that even when an abnormality is found in a routine preoperative test, these abnormalities: 1) rarely impact the clinical course of the patient, and 2) rarely lead to actual substantive change in that patient’s care. And I think that we really have to consider these when we’re deciding whether or not we want to test our patients routinely.”

In addition to registering for the Aug. 1 workgroup, MVC has a third preoperative testing workgroup session scheduled for Oct. 26, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. The Oct. session will be a forum for sharing current successes or initiatives underway across the collaborative. If your hospital has a current initiative underway on preoperative testing de-implementation or has a low average testing rate, MVC would love to learn from you. Please reach out to the MVC team if you’d be interested in sharing your site’s story on Oct. 26.

13 Jul 2023
0
View Post
MVC Reflects on 2023 Mid-Year Progress and Successes

MVC Reflects on 2023 Mid-Year Progress and Successes

July 13, 2023 | 0 Comments |

As the Michigan Value Collaborative continues its activity in the second half of 2023, the MVC team is taking a moment to pause and reflect on the tremendous work accomplished over the past six months. Here is a look back at some of the highlights.

NEW ED-BASED EPISODE DATA

MVC spent significant time and effort in Q4 of 2022 and Q1 of 2023 developing a new episode-of-care data structure initialized by index visits to the emergency department (ED). This work was done in collaboration with MEDIC—the ED-focused CQI—and the data science portion was completed by ArborMetrix. ED-based episodes were created for 15 high-volume, ED-relevant conditions from January 2017 through the present using all BCBSM, BCN, and Medicare plans for which MVC has claims data. Episodes were created for index events at all qualifying hospitals in Michigan. Over two million ED-based episodes have been created thus far, with plans to update and add additional claims data on a regular cadence. These data were used in the creation of a new ED-based episodes push report and are also available for use in custom reports for members.

ANALYTICS & REPORTING

Since Jan. 1, the MVC team has completed a total of 11 custom requests as well as six push reports, three of which were new:

  • ED-based episodes report (hospital version) - new
  • Skilled nursing facility (SNF) and home health report (hospital and PO versions) - new
  • P4P final scorecards for PY 2022
  • Preoperative testing report refresh
  • Cardiac rehabilitation report refresh

MVC COMPONENT OF THE BCBSM P4P PROGRAM

So far in 2023, MVC has been busy implementing and adjudicating the MVC Component of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) Pay-for-Performance (P4P) Program. In March, MVC finalized and evaluated PY 2022, sending final scorecards to participating hospitals. PY 2022 was the first year of a two-year cycle for which MVC data was used to evaluate hospitals on two of seven selected episode spending conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), colectomy, congestive heart failure (CHF), coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), joint replacement, pneumonia, and spine surgery. The average total points scored was 6/10 before including bonus points, one point higher than the previous PY average. Consistent with previous years, joint replacement was the highest-scoring condition with an average of 4.6 points earned, while pneumonia was the lowest-scoring condition with hospitals earning 1.5 points on average (Figure 1).

After finalizing the methodology for the PY 2024-2025 cycle, MVC collected selections from all hospitals in early Feb. for one of five episode spending conditions and one of seven value metric options. MVC hosted two explainer webinars and five one-on-one meetings to support sites with their episode spending metric and value metric selections. The most common episode spending selection was for joint replacement and the most common value metric selection was seven-day follow-up after CHF.

Figure 1.

QUALIFIED ENTITY PUBLIC REPORT

MVC was approved as a qualified entity (QE) in 2022 under the Qualified Entity Certification Program (QECP) and continues to fulfill requirements to maintain QE status. In the first half of 2023, MVC continued to provide authorized hospital users with registry access to QE Medicare data that met program requirements. In Jan., MVC also published its 2022 Annual Public QECP Report. MVC’s first public report as a QE provides information on hospital performance for two sets of measures: rehospitalization following post-discharge home health use, and outpatient follow-up receipt following CHF/COPD inpatient hospitalization. The public report was published on the MVC website and shared with MVC contacts via email. MVC will refresh and publish its next annual public report this fall, adding two new years of data.

MAY COLLABORATIVE-WIDE MEETING

MVC held its spring collaborative-wide meeting on May 19. A total of 86 leaders from a variety of healthcare disciplines attended representing 50 different hospitals and 13 POs from across the state of Michigan. “Connecting the Dots: Celebrating 10 years of value-based care” was the theme, putting the spotlight on care transitions, care coordination, and MVC’s 10 years of supporting data-driven quality improvement. MVC was joined by guest speakers from Trinity Health IHA Medical Group and the new lung health CQI, INHALE. MVC also offered a poster session highlighting the work of several members and partner CQIs. MVC staff prepared a variety of unblinded data presentations, including a first look at its new ED-based episode data as well as unblinded breakout session presentations on its new P4P value metrics. Save the date for MVC’s fall collaborative-wide meeting, scheduled for Friday, October 20 at the Radisson Hotel Lansing.

WORKGROUPS

Over the last six months, MVC delivered a total of 14 workgroups, which were designed to provide a highly accessible online platform for hospital and PO leaders to come together, collaborate, and learn from peers. MVC offers workgroups on six topics this year: cardiac rehabilitation, chronic disease management, diabetes, health equity, health in action, and preoperative testing. Visit the MVC 2023 Events Calendar to check upcoming dates and topics and to register.

In addition, MVC launched a new Lunch and Learn series dedicated to MVC-focused activities and topics. The kickoff session in March included an overview of MVC and its offerings for new site coordinators or partners. The next session in June featured an introduction to MVC’s data sources, its episode structure and methodology, and an analyst-led walkthrough of one of MVC’s most recent push reports. MVC plans to host two more Lunch and Learn sessions later this year on other topics.

NEW COORDINATING CENTER STAFF

In June, MVC welcomed two new data analysts to the Coordinating Center: Kushbu Narender Singh, MPH, and Jiaying (“Janet”) Zhang, MPH. MVC published welcome blogs about Kushbu and Janet last month and looks forward to introducing them to members and partners in the coming months.

AND COMING SOON…

The MVC team is hard at work preparing for its first Rural Health Meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, August 9, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. via Zoom. The purpose of the meeting is to provide presentations and MVC data tailored to its rural or Critical Access Hospital members. This meeting will feature presentations by leaders from MVC, Scheurer Health, and the Michigan Critical Access Hospital Quality Consortium. RSVP here.

19 May 2023
0
View Post
MVC Kicks Off 10-Year Anniversary Celebration at May 19 Meeting

MVC Kicks Off 10-Year Anniversary Celebration at May 19 Meeting

May 19, 2023 | 0 Comments | , ,

The Michigan Value Collaborative premiered several new materials and offerings at this week's Spring Collaborative-Wide Meeting, including the kickoff of its 10-year anniversary celebration. Established in 2013 as part of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Value Partnerships Program, MVC was envisioned as a Collaborative Quality Initiative (CQI) focused on "helping Michigan hospitals achieve the best possible patient outcomes at the lowest reasonable cost." This interest in improving the value of healthcare has set MVC apart from other CQIs in both its focus and data use. Furthermore, MVC's analytic and engagement efforts resulted in some notable success stories and improvements over the last decade.

To celebrate the ways in which MVC has grown, adapted, and succeeded over time, the Coordinating Center shared a celebratory video (Figure 1) with attendees during its opening presentations on Friday morning. This video included interviews with current and past leadership of MVC who spoke about accomplishments they were most proud of as well as changes and growth they've observed over the years. Some of the highlights included the steady and significant growth in MVC's data sources, observed collaboration and sharing between members, expansion within the Coordinating Center, diversification in MVC's members and partner groups, and MVC's recent certification by CMS as a Qualified Entity. These accomplishments and others were similarly highlighted in a 10-year anniversary timeline poster (Figure 2) and in a slideshow that was played at multiple points throughout the day.

Figure 1. MVC 10-Year Anniversary Celebration Video

Figure 2. MVC 10-Year Anniversary Timeline Poster

The video featured interviews with Director Hari Nathan, MD, PhD; Co-Director Mike Thompson, PhD, MPH; former Director and Senior Advisor Jim Dupree, MD, MPH; former Co-Director and Senior Advisor Scott Regenbogen, MD, MPH; Program Manager Erin Conklin, MPA; and Manager of Data Analytics Chelsea Pizzo, MPH.

MVC will continue to celebrate its 10-year anniversary throughout the remainder of 2023, including at its Fall Collaborative-Wide Meeting. The focus for the latter half of 2023 will be the celebration of case studies and success stories that feature MVC's members, partners, and other stakeholders. MVC looks forward to connecting with individuals to gather those stories in the coming months. If you have a story or quote from your experience partnering with MVC, please share it with the Coordinating Center.

11 May 2023
0
View Post
MVC Honors Mental Health Awareness Month with Workgroup

MVC Honors Mental Health Awareness Month with Workgroup

May 11, 2023 | 0 Comments | , ,

Mental illness and related conditions such as depression are increasingly prevalent and costly. More than 50% of patients will be diagnosed with mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime, according to a World Health Organization research survey, and one in four adolescents will experience depression by the age of 18, contributing to an estimated $406 billion in medical treatment costs in a single year in the U.S. To bring attention and awareness to this issue, the month of May is celebrated nationally as Mental Health Awareness Month. It represents an important opportunity for healthcare providers and hospitals to evaluate the ways in which they currently support patients experiencing mental health/substance use disorder (MH/SUD) conditions.

To help facilitate this conversation, the Michigan Value Collaborative hosted a workgroup yesterday focused on increasing access to high-quality mental health for patients and increasing support for providers. MVC’s guest speakers hail from the Michigan Collaborative Care Implementation Support Team (MCCIST), including Gregory Dalack, MD, MCCIST Co-Lead and Daniel E. Offutt III Professor and Chair of the Michigan Medicine Department of Psychiatry, and Karla Metzger, LMSW, MCCIST Program Manager.

The presenters highlighted the psychiatric Collaborative Care Model (CoCM), an evidence-based integrated behavioral health model that is primary care based and highly cost-effective. Research evidence suggests that up to $6 are saved in long-term healthcare costs for every dollar spent on collaborative care. The presentation included research evidence of the benefits of CoCM, an introduction to its components, tips for implementation and common challenges, and several success stories from both patients and providers.

Those unable to attend Thursday's MVC workgroup can access the full recording on MVC’s YouTube channel. Additionally, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine (APM) jointly developed a report on the CoCM that reviews current evidence, essential elements of implementation, and recommendations for better meeting the health needs of people with mental health conditions, which is available here.

The American Hospital Association has also compiled a variety of resources on its Mental Health Awareness Month webpage related to mental health information, suicide prevention, opioid stewardship, downloadable posters to help employees adopt respectful language, case studies, and other tools and resources.

For those working in the behavioral and mental health space, there is also a recently formed Collaborative Quality Initiative (CQI) focused on mental health. Established in 2022, the Michigan Mental Innovation Network and Clinical Design (MI Mind) CQI is a statewide partnership with providers and provider organizations that works to prevent suicide and improve outcomes by reducing suicide attempts and deaths. MI Mind offers access to and engagement in evidence-based services for providers with a focus on suicide prevention, with plans to expand into other behavioral health domains, such as depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. For a closer look at MI Mind, read MVC’s blog about their formation and check out the MI Mind website.

04 May 2023
0
View Post
MVC Announces Summer Date for New Virtual Rural Health Meeting

MVC Announces Summer Date for New Virtual Rural Health Meeting

May 4, 2023 | 0 Comments | ,

MVC will host a special virtual event this summer for its rural and northern Michigan members. The new MVC Rural Health Meeting is modeled after MVC’s collaborative-wide meetings that are offered in person in the spring and fall. This tailored member meeting differs in that its guest speakers and unblinded data presentations will focus on the unique challenges and opportunities in delivering value-based healthcare in rural or low-density communities. The event will take place over Zoom on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

The Collaborative has diversified in recent years with the addition of more rural-based hospitals and physician organizations as well as more representation throughout Northern Michigan, including critical access hospitals. These sites play an integral role in the health system and have a unique care delivery experience.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), rural providers have higher performance quality measures than their urban counterparts in areas such as safety, community engagement, efficiency, and cost reduction. At the same time, however, they also face unique challenges related to low patient volumes, higher rates of chronic disease, insufficient workforce recruitment and retention, and low reimbursement rates, among others.

It is these unique strengths and challenges that will be the focus of the August 9 agenda, along with unblinded MVC data that caters to priority conditions and areas of care for rural providers. If your hospital or physician organization is interested in presenting on a recent rural health initiative or would like to request data on a specific area of care, please contact the MVC Coordinating Center 

27 Apr 2023
0
View Post
Latest MVC Push Reports and Resources Draw Attention to Low-Value Preoperative Testing

Latest MVC Push Reports and Resources Draw Attention to Low-Value Preoperative Testing

April 27, 2023 | 0 Comments | ,

This week MVC distributed its first of two preoperative testing push reports of 2023, providing members with an opportunity to benchmark their testing practices. MVC first introduced its preoperative testing push reports in 2021 to help members reduce the use of unnecessary testing for surgical procedures. Preoperative testing for low-risk surgeries, especially for young and healthy patients, often provides no clinical benefits yet is ordered regularly at hospitals across Michigan.

The report distributed this week had many similarities to versions distributed last year, namely that members continued to see their rates across a variety of tests for three elective, low-risk procedures performed in outpatient settings: laparoscopic cholecystectomy, laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair, and lumpectomy. Claims were evaluated for the index event as well as 30 days prior to the procedures for the following common tests: electrocardiogram (ECGs), echocardiogram, cardiac stress test, complete blood count, basic metabolic panel, coagulation studies, urinalysis, chest x-ray, and pulmonary function.

The latest report utilizes claims from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) and Blue Care Network (BCN) plans exclusively, including both the commercial and Medicare Advantage plans. This allows members to see MVC’s most up-to-date data, which includes episodes with index admissions from 7/1/2020 through 6/30/2022. Members only received reports if they had 11 or more cases in at least one of the three conditions and at least 20 cases across all three conditions.

The reports received by members this week included a patient snapshot table that defined rates for preoperative testing and no preoperative testing in patients of varying races as well as those with zero, one, or two or more comorbidities. Generally speaking, patients with no comorbidities were more likely to have no preoperative testing than patients with one or more comorbidities. There were also observed differences in testing by age; patients who had preoperative testing were older on average than patients who had no preoperative testing.

A key finding in the report is the average testing rate for all three procedures combined for the entire collaborative, which continues to showcase the wide variability across hospitals in Michigan. Some in the collaborative have an average testing rate close to 10% and some nearly 100% (Figure 1). Individual hospitals receiving a report will see on this figure where they fall compared to other hospitals in the collaborative, as well as their average rate for the three separate procedures to help deduce which procedure is driving their average rate.

Figure 1.

Another trend that continued in this April 2023 report is the consistency of average testing rates for combined procedures over time. A trend graph showed members how their overall rate for any preoperative testing compared in 2020, 2021, and the first half of 2022, with data points for their hospital, the MVC average, and their regional comparison group (Figure 2). There continues to be very little change in testing rates over time when looking at aggregated preoperative testing practices. The prevalence of low-value preoperative testing has remained high on average across the collaborative for three years and likely longer.

Figure 2.

A third figure included in this report shows the absolute change in the rate of any preoperative testing for their hospital’s highest volume surgical condition among laparoscopic cholecystectomy, laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair, and lumpectomy (Figure 3). In this figure, positive values represent an increase in annual preoperative testing from 7/1/2020 to 6/30/2022, and negative values represent a decrease. The MVC average for this metric was -2.3%, so there was a small net decrease in the average rate of any testing in that time period. Once again, the variation across the collaborative was notable, with some hospitals seeing greater than 40% swings in either direction – though some sites may see drastic changes to their rates if case counts are smaller.

Figure 3.

The remaining figures in the report provide preoperative testing rates for specific types of tests, with caterpillar plots for each condition to help benchmark performance to other hospitals across the state. The types of tests with the highest average testing rates across conditions are blood tests—which include complete blood count, basic metabolic panel, and coagulation tests—and electrocardiography tests. For a majority of hospitals, their testing rates are highest within the lumpectomy patient population regardless of test type, with the exception of urinalysis testing rates that are heavily driven by the cholecystectomy population.

The last time MVC shared preoperative testing reports was in July 2022, and since then MVC contributed to and launched resources to help healthcare providers implement changes. MVC members now have access to a sample preoperative testing decision aid for low-risk surgeries, developed in partnership with the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative (MSQC) and the Michigan Program on Value Enhancement (MPrOVE), and MVC (Figure 4). The decision aid also comes with a supplemental suggested preoperative testing chart that identifies which tests are recommended for patients who are classified by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) as Class III or above and undergoing low-risk surgery (Figure 5). Both resources are intended as guides and can be downloaded in their original file formats so hospitals may edit and adapt them within their institution. These resources were developed with input from one institution’s surgery, anesthesiology, and preoperative clinic teams, and based on clinical recommendations put forth by a number of professional societies.

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

These resources were added to a new resource website developed in partnership with MPrOVE, MSQC, and MVC. The goal of the site is to help providers safely “waive the workup” by providing the latest research, national recommendations, arguments against common myths, and frequently asked questions.

In addition, the MVC team is holding several workgroups in 2023 dedicated to preoperative testing. The first took place on March 15 and was heavily attended by MSQC and MVC members working to reduce preoperative testing as part of their P4P programs. A full recording of the workgroup is available here. MVC also has a preoperative testing workgroup scheduled for August 1, from 1-2 p.m., featuring guest presenter Nick Berlin, MD, MPH, MS, who has published several papers on patterns and determinants of low-value preoperative testing. A third preoperative testing workgroup is tentatively scheduled for October 26, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sites are encouraged to attend these events in order to learn best practices and collaborate with peers on common barriers.

For additional analysis or consultation on your hospital’s preoperative testing rates or practices, reach out to the MVC team for assistance at Michigan-Value-Collaborative@med.umich.edu.