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Joint, CHF Top Members’ Selections for MVC P4P Program

The MVC Coordinating Center recently distributed condition selection reports for Program Years 2022 and 2023 of the MVC Component of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) Pay-for-Performance (P4P) Program. The reports were provided in conjunction with details pertaining to the condition selection process, as well as changes to the scoring methodology, cohort assignments, and bonus points available. More details about those changes was published in a previous MVC Coordinating Center blog.

Eligible members were tasked with reviewing these reports and returning their condition selection form at the end of August. Each participating hospital selected two of the seven available conditions for PY22 and PY23: spine surgery, joint replacement, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), congestive heart failure (CHF), colectomy (non-cancer), and pneumonia. The condition that was selected by the most participants was joint replacement with 41 hospitals selecting it, followed closely by CHF with 40 selections. COPD was selected by 32 hospitals. See Figure 1 for a depiction of the total selections for each condition.

Figure 1.

Although the two conditions selected most frequently were consistent across a variety of hospitals, the overall selections varied somewhat from region to region and by hospital size or type. For instance, hospitals with fewer than 100 beds were much more likely to select pneumonia as one of their two conditions than peers with more than 100 hospital beds (see Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Conversely, larger hospitals that perform more complex procedures made up the totality of selections for spinal surgery, colectomy, and CABG. Still, joint replacement and CHF were the most commonly selected conditions among all hospital sizes.

Similarly, CHF and joint replacement were popular among all hospitals regardless of location type, such as urban or rural (see Figure 3), or location within the state (see Figure 4), with the exception of Region 4 hospitals selecting COPD more frequently than joint replacement.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

With the majority of hospitals focusing on both joint replacement and CHF, the MVC Coordinating Center hopes that continued participation at the joint and CHF workgroups will result in meaningful collaboration among members. MVC will also continue to offer events for virtual networking with facilities and physician organizations (POs) within a member’s geographic region (see Figure 5). These regional networking events provide additional opportunities to connect and share knowledge with peers who may share your hospital’s priorities. For instance, the next Coffee, Chat, and Collaborate virtual networking event takes place among hospitals and POs in Region 1 on Monday, September 13, at noon. Members from Region 1 interested in attending can register here.

Figure 5.

P4P cohorts were reassigned for PY22 and PY23. These changes were also detailed in the new technical document, and the new cohort assignments were published on the MVC website. The cohorts were not intended to group hospitals that are exactly alike; rather, they created a reasonably comparable grouping from which MVC can complete statistical analyses.

This program began in 2018, when BCBSM allocated 10% of its P4P program to an episode of care spending metric based on MVC data. This metric measures hospital performance using price-standardized, risk-adjusted 30-day episode payments for BCBSM Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS), BCBSM Medicare Advantage, Blue Care Network (BCN) Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), and BCN Medicare Advantage.

If you would like to receive notices about the MVC workgroups or have questions about any aspect of the MVC Component of the BCBSM P4P Program, please contact the MVC Coordinating Center at michiganvaluecollaborative@gmail.com.

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Condition Selection Process Announced for MVC Component of BCBSM P4P Program

This week the Michigan Value Collaborative (MVC) Coordinating Center announced the condition selection process for program year (PY) 2022 and PY 2023 of the MVC Component of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) Pay-for-Performance (P4P) program. The timeline for each program year’s stages are detailed in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

In the announcement, hospitals were tasked with selecting two conditions for which they will be evaluated and returning their condition selection form to the Coordinating Center by Friday, August 13, 2021. The announcement also outlined changes to the scoring methodology, cohort assignments, and bonus points available.

The Coordinating Center’s recent announcement included condition selection reports with targets for each condition option that may help inform hospitals’ selection decisions. Each participating hospital will choose two of the seven available conditions for PY22 and PY23: spine surgery, joint replacement, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), congestive heart failure (CHF), colectomy (non-cancer), and pneumonia. When selecting conditions, the Coordinating Center recommends reviewing your data in the registry and considering several factors for each condition, including case counts and identifiable areas with the greatest cost opportunities. The Coordinating Center also recommends considering where resources are currently being directed in your facility and potentially aligning with those efforts.

One notable change from prior program years is the methodology by which hospitals earn achievement and improvement points. Hospital scores will continue to be based on a hospital’s risk-adjusted, price-standardized total episode payments for two selected conditions, and they can still earn a maximum score of 10 points. However, the improvement and achievement scores will become more similar in order to be placed on the same scale. As such, the achievement equation will change from being based on rank within MVC cohort at performance year to being based on distance from MVC cohort mean at baseline year. Similarly, the improvement equation will utilize the distance from the hospital’s mean at baseline. These new equations (see Figure 2) as well as complete descriptions of the updated methodologies are reviewed at length with examples in the technical document.

Figure 2.

P4P cohorts have also been reassigned for PY22 and PY23. These changes are also detailed in the technical document, and the new cohort assignments can be found on the MVC website. The cohorts are not intended to group hospitals that are exactly alike; rather, they create a reasonably-comparable grouping from which MVC can complete statistical analysis.

The final change is to the awarding of bonus points. In place of the previous 5% cohort reduction bonus, participants can instead earn bonus points by completing two questionnaires (one per selected condition) and submitting these to the Coordinating Center by November 1st of each program year. The purpose of this is to gather examples of quality improvement initiatives in operation at MVC member hospitals to share with the Collaborative. Moving forward, this will help support members in reducing costs through collaboration.

Each of the changes mentioned above are designed to deliver a more transparent, intuitive, flexible, and fairer P4P program. The Coordinating Center will offer an explainer webinar to answer questions and walk through the details of these changes in more detail. The webinar will be offered on two dates: the first is scheduled for Thursday, July 29 from 11:00-12:00 pm, and the second is on Tuesday, August 3 from 1:00-2:00 pm. Both webinars can be accessed using the following Zoom link: https://umich.zoom.us/j/95502303999. Participants can also call +1 301 715 8592 (meeting ID #955 0230 3999). For those interested in the explainer webinar who are unavailable on both dates, a recording of the first webinar will be available. If you are interested in receiving a link to this recording, please email the MVC team at michiganvaluecollaborative@gmail.com.