BMH-NM and BC&BS of Mississippi Partner to Improve Quality of Healthcare

Over the past three years, through its Comprehensive Quality Model, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi has partnered with Network Hospitals across the state, including Baptist Memorial Hospital – North Mississippi, to focus on improving and ensuring quality healthcare for Mississippians.

BCBSMS, and its participating Network Hospitals, worked together to utilize nationally recognized quality standards to raise the bar for healthcare.

This collaboration resulted in the BCBSMS Comprehensive Quality Model, a value-based hospital performance model supported by national measures which evaluate Network Hospitals’ performance in patient safety, clinical quality and efficiency and health outcomes.

Healthcare in Mississippi by community may be unique, but all hospitals and their professional providers must ensure quality of care by eliminating hospital-acquired conditions and surgical complications while continuously focusing on patient safety and efficient care–particularly in areas so important to Mississippians, such as heart attack care and delivery of healthy babies.

Building upon clinical care initiatives already underway with many Network Hospitals, the Comprehensive Quality Model standardized the measurements across all the participating CQM Network Hospitals.

This ensures all hospitals are working toward the same quality of care goals, regardless of the size of their community or hospital—and for all patients.

Based on these measurements, CQM Network Hospitals are rewarded for their performance. The highest performing Network Hospitals for the initial measurement year, with emphasis on clinical quality and outcomes included:

• North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo
• King’s Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven
• Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi in Oxford
• Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson

“Congratulations to Baptist Memorial Hospital – North Mississippi for being a top performing hospital. It takes leadership, teamwork and a commitment to clinical excellence to obtain this level of success in the BCBSMS Comprehensive Quality Model program,” said Dr. Lee Greer, Corporate Medical Director at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi.

The overall performance data for the 32 Mississippi CQM Network Hospitals participating in the Comprehensive Quality Model, demonstrates the collaboration and partnership is improving hospital quality of care for Mississippians.

“We are proud that Baptist North Mississippi was recognized as one of four hospitals in the state as highest performing for our clinical quality and outcomes,” said Bill Henning, CEO and administrator of Baptist North Mississippi. “We look forward to the ongoing work with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi and partner hospitals across the state to continue providing high-quality care to Mississippians.”

According to the Leapfrog Group, the nation’s watchdog for safety and quality in American health care, Mississippi has risen from the 29th to 18th safest state in the nation as measured by the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.

BCBSMS Network Hospitals participating in the CQM program are performing closer to, if not now meeting, the national average for defect-free treatment of heart attacks. The rigorous national guidelines that define the “perfect care” for heart attack patients revealed a 23% increase in patients receiving all of the evidence-based measures while being cared for at a participating CQM hospital.

BCBSMS CQM Network Hospitals are also improving health outcomes for mothers and babies by reducing variations in care for the treatment of pregnancy-related high blood pressure and obstetrical bleeding.

The baby-Friendly designation is leading to increased breastfeeding rates for newborns.

Readmissions performance for BCBSMS CQM Network Hospitals was better than the national average despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“BCBSMS is proud of the work of our Network Hospitals participating in the Comprehensive Quality Model and we are pleased with our initial results for the first measurement year of the program. Quality of care is moving in the right direction and all Mississippians deserve safe, high-quality and efficient healthcare,” said Dr. Lee Greer, Corporate Medical Director at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi. “Our initial results reaffirm that BCBSMS and our participating Network Hospitals are committed to making healthcare better and we look forward to our future shared success with the next generation of the quality partnership.”

For more information, call 662-636-1000 or visit northmiss.baptistonline.org.

Staff report