Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan saves an estimated $155 million over three years from Patient-Centered Medical Home program

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan saves an estimated $155 million over three years from Patient-Centered Medical Home program

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan saved an estimated $155 million over the first three years of its Patient-Centered Medical Home program, based on calculations made from an analysis published this month in the Health Services Research Journal. The analysis also shows that, when physicians fully transform their practices to the Patient-Centered Medical Home model, it results in higher quality and improved preventive care.

Across the country, physicians and health care organizations have been testing medical home qualities and features to see if they lead to improvements in care and efficiency. Through its analysis, “Partial and Incremental Patient-Centered Medical Home Practice Transformation: Implications for Quality and Costs,” Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and University of Michigan researchers found that its Patient-Centered Medical Home model, when fully implemented, is associated with a 3.5 percent higher quality measure, a 5.1 percent higher preventive care measure and a $26.37 lower per member per month medical cost for adults.

Based on this study, the Michigan Blues estimate that the Patient-Centered Medical Home program saved $155 million in prevented claims costs from July 2008 through June 2011.

Article in Health Service Research Journal July 2013