It has been my distinct honor and pleasure to serve as the co-director of the BMC2 Vascular Surgery Quality Collaborative in the state of Michigan for over a decade. This journey began back in 2011, with a fateful meeting with Dr. Mike Grossman and Andrea Jensen, who was then the Program Manager of BMC2. Given the high rate of morbidity and mortality that many of our patients had related to vascular surgery procedures, the idea to abstract cases from hospitals in the state of Michigan was immediately appealing to me. I would like to thank all of you who have participated, as you have made BMC2 so successful.
The collaborative has been a very rewarding part of my career and I hope that your membership in BMC2 has been beneficial as well. The collegial nature amongst the vascular surgeons and interventionalists in this CQI has been great to see. We often have lively discussions, all with the goal of improving patient care and improving processes and outcomes. Seeing how other institutions perform certain care and interventions can broaden that application throughout the State.
We have seen many important improvements across the collaborative as a whole over this last decade. A decrease in blood transfusions, postoperative MI, and surgical site infection, and a marked increase in use of aspirin and statins. We have maintained a low length of stay for carotid and endovascular repair in elective patients. This has been truly heartening to see and in many cases, our State leads the nation, particularly with evidence-based medical therapies. Cross-site peer reviews of the appropriateness of our procedures takes real buy-in by the many members of the consortium to be successful. The consortium has proven its collaboration and cooperation.
Of course, one of the best parts is working with the BMC2 administrative team at our Coordinating Center. They have constantly contributed hard work and insight into making this a better collaborative for everyone in the State. I would like to thank the current team for their support as I transition to a regular participant, rather than leader, and look forward to my continued interactions with them. I believe that BMC2 Vascular Surgery is in excellent hands with Dr. Nick Osborne as the new Program Director.
I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
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Peter Henke, MD
Leland Ira Doan Professor of Surgery
Section Head, Vascular Surgery
Michigan Medicine
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Spotlight - Smoking Cessation
November is National Smoking Cessation Month. We are proud to collaborate with you to help your patients quit smoking through Value Based Reimbursement goals, partnering with Healthy Behavior Optimization for Michigan (HBOM) and utilizing their smoking cessation resources, and celebrating your smoking cessation quality improvement successes then sharing them with the consortium. Visit our smoking cessation blog post to learn more about these goals, opportunities, and resources. We thank you for your continued commitment to improving quality of care and patient outcomes through smoking cessation efforts!
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BCBSM Pay for Performance and Value Based Reimbursement
The measures for 2023 Pay for Performance (P4P) and Value Based Reimbursement (VBR) have been set and approved for 2023. You’ll find detailed information about these goals along with scorecards at bmc2.org.
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New Video - What is BMC2?
Our short new video, “What is BMC2?” shares a bit about what makes the consortium so unique and how we contribute to educating consortium members, improving quality of care and outcomes for patients, and saving costs for insurers. Visit our YouTube channel to watch it and learn more.
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BMC2 Publications
This study used BMC2 data to determine that Black patients had a higher risk of 90-day readmission and cumulative mortality following PCI compared with white patients.
Authors Stephanie Spehar, Milan Seth, Peter Henke, Khaldoon Alaswad, Theodore Schreiber, Aaron Berman, John Syrjamaki, Omar E. Ali, Yousef Bader, David Nerenz, Hitinder Gurm, and Devraj Sukul share that this highlights the need for improved upstream care and streamlined post-discharge care pathways as potential strategies to improve health care disparities in cardiovascular disease. Learn more at PubMed.
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National Presentations
David E. Hamilton, MD, presented the poster “Merging Machine Learning and Patient Preference: A Contemporary, Comprehensive, Patient-Centered Tool for Risk Prediction Prior to Percutaneous Coronary Intervention” during the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2022 held November 5th – 7th in Chicago.
Dr. Hamilton and co-authors Jeremy Albright, Milan Seth, Devraj Sukul, and Hitinder S. Gurm hypothesized that using machine learning models would allow predictions of common post-PCI complications using pre-procedural factors.
They used BMC2 data and patient feedback to design an XGBoost machine learning model that accurately predicts individualized post-PCI outcomes.
The team then created a patient-centered tool that displays risks to patients and providers, allowing them access to enhanced risk prediction before PCI. This tool could help inform shared decision-making discussions and treatment selection. We look forward to making this tool available to the consortium in the future. Learn more and view the poster on bmc2.org.
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BMC2 Vascular Surgery Publication Proposal Guidelines
BMC2 Vascular Surgery maintains a publication committee comprised of physician volunteers from the consortium who review and approve proposals for statistical analysis. Individuals from participating centers may propose research and may request leadership roles on projects they propose. Data requested for abstracts will be approved based on appropriateness of request, scientific merit, timeliness of topic, and availability of statistician. The Publication Proposal Form can be found on our website.
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BMC2 Meeting Summaries
The BMC2 VS and MVS/SVS/VQI Collaborative Meeting was held on November 3rd from 1 pm – 5 pm. This meeting was packed with valuable information and was well attended with over 100 participants!
The PCI Physician Meeting was held at Cantoro Italian Market in Plymouth on November 10th from 6 – 9 pm. The meeting was well attended with engaging conversation, informative presentations, BMC2 updates, and a data review. If you missed the opportunity to attend, a pdf of the entire slide presentation is available on the password-protected BMC2.org website.
You can read a full account of our November meetings on our blog.
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News from MISHC
The MISHC Coordinator/Abstractor Annual Meeting was held on Friday, October 14th from 10 am – 3 pm at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Our many attendees enjoyed a robust agenda packed with valuable information.
The MISHC Collaborative Meeting was held on Saturday, October 15th from 10 am – 3 pm at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. We welcomed Dr. Joao Cavalcante, from the University of Minnesota, who gave the talk, “CT Planning to Optimize Aortic Valve Replacement Strategies and Implications for TAV in TAV and TAV in SAV.” You can find Dr. Cavalcante’s talk on our MISHC YouTube channel.
The MiTVT2 and MISHC Coordinator/Abstractor Meeting was held on November 10th from 11 am – 12 pm. We welcomed Kristin Pasquarello, MPAS, PA-C, Administrative Director- Heart Valve Center, St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center, Catholic Health, New York who presented “Polishing Your Stars.” The talk was an inspiring overview during which she shared her process to ensure her site received the highest public-reporting rating. A PDF of her presentation is available on the password-protected side of MISHC.org.
For more information on MISHC meetings over the past quarter, read our complete meeting summaries on MISHC.org.
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Upcoming Meetings
The next PCI Coordinator Webinar will be held on January 12th from 10 am – 11 am
The next Vascular Surgery Coordinator Webinar will be held on January 18th from 11 am – 12 pm.
The next PCI Physician Webinar will be on February 9th from 6 pm – 7:30 pm. Attendance is optional for non-physicians.
The next MISHC Mitral Webinar will be held on March 14th from 6 pm – 7:30 pm.
The next BMC2 VS Physician Meeting will be on May 17th from 11:30 am - 5 pm. This meeting will be held at Boyne Mountain Resort in Boyne Falls, MI and is in conjunction with the ACS Conference. MVS will have an evening speaker from 6 pm - 9 pm. All are welcome to attend.
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Opportunities for Participation
Free 1-1 Counseling Offered by Michigan OPEN - To support appropriate prescribing for vascular surgery patients, Michigan OPEN is offering BMC2 vascular surgeons the opportunity to participate in tailored, one-on-one counseling sessions. Sessions provide unbiased, evidence-based information about medications and prescribing. Participants will be compensated for their time. Learn more on our blog.
Patient Advisory Council - We are seeking additional patients that represent the diversity of our state to join our BMC2 PCI Patient Advisory Council. We are particularly interested in adding a patient who experienced complications as well as a patient who had a routine PCI to our team. Can you recommend a patient to this group? There is no up-front commitment and patients will be compensated for their time.
Send the patient’s name and contact info to Annemarie Forrest, avassalo@umich.edu; or Pam Benci, plf@umich.edu. You can learn more about patient responsibilities and what we are looking for in a patient advisor by visiting our blog.
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We Want to Hear From You!
Do you have something to share via our newsletter? We want to hear from you! Email Elizabeth Walker at ehorn@umich.edu.
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Support for BMC2 is provided by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network as part of the BCBSM Value Partnerships program.
Although Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and BMC2 work collaboratively, the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of BCBSM or any of its employees.
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