May 3, 2016
A new column by David B. Hoyt, M.D., FACS, the executive director of the American College of Surgeons, focuses on his recent visit to U-M, including IHPI -- and praises the many efforts to improve surgical care led by IHPI members.
In his column in the ACS Bulletin, Hoyt shares with readers his impressions of IHPI as a whole, and specifically calls out the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative (MSQC) and the Michigan Value Collaborative (MVC), which are led by U-M physicians, involve dozens of hospitals across the state, and receive funding from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. He also notes that MSQC is one of 20 collaborative quality initiatives, or CQIs, funded by BCBSM to improve care in specific specialties. Most of the CQIs are based at U-M with participation from hospitals around the state, and leadership from among the IHPI membership.
"I commend the U-M and the surgeons, researchers, and public and private sector partners that are leading these efforts," Hoyt writes. "To drive the changes that will lead to better quality and higher standards of cost-effective care, all stakeholders—patients, providers, health care professionals, insurers, government payors, and so on—must join together."
Hoyt's column also includes a quote from Clifford Y. Ko, MD, MS, MSHS, FACS, who directs the National Surgical Quality Improvement Project run by ACS that involves hundreds of hospitals nationwide. “These efforts, so well-developed by the Michigan collaboratives, are exemplars of how we can use health policy to improve care,” he said.