Blue Cross Collaborative Care is Your One-Stop Shop for Whole Person Health
Blue Daily
| 4 min read
Key Takeaways
- Physical health and mental health are closely related. When physical and mental health issues compound, your whole person health suffers.
- With Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Collaborative Care model, primary care and OB/GYN practices integrate mental health services into their practices.
- Integrating care streamlines information processes, which reduces administrative overhead and associated costs.
- With Collaborative Care, your PCP’s practice can connect you to the right services based on recommendations from their behavioral health consultant.
Imagine dealing with a serious health condition like diabetes while also struggling with your mental health. Picture calling therapist practices in your area only to repeatedly learn they aren’t accepting new patients.
When physical and mental health issues compound, your whole person health suffers, because physical and mental health go hand in hand. Research tells us people with a mental health issue are more likely to have a preventable physical health condition such as heart disease.
With Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Collaborative Care model, primary care and OB/GYN practices integrate mental health services into their practices, allowing your primary care provider (PCP) or OB/GYN to connect you with a behavioral health care manager. The team meets with a consulting psychiatrist regularly to discuss your progress and to recommend a treatment plan or any changes to your medication.
Having a full care team on board means that you can get the services you need, right from your provider’s office. It’s a model of health care service that was designed to save you the time, stress and overwhelm that comes with finding the right mental health services for you. Think of it as a convenient, affordable one-stop shop for your physical and mental health needs.
If you have a chronic condition like heart disease or diabetes, the intricate and bidirectional relationship between mental and physical well-being makes it important to find the right care team. And even if you are not diagnosed with a chronic condition, we are all better served by a system that allows us to spend less time navigating the often-complicated health care system, and more time receiving the care we need.
Blue Cross Collaborative Care makes whole person health care more affordable
The Collaborative Care model has proven to reduce patient health care costs.
One study found that Collaborative Care implementation was associated with significant reductions in mental health hospitalizations, leading to substantial cost savings of about $1.70 for every dollar spent for implementation, among research participants. Another study showed a 13% per-member-per-month savings in total health care costs for patients under Collaborative Care compared versus “treatment-as-usual.”
Integrating care streamlines information processes, which reduces administrative overhead and associated costs. This process ensures everyone’s health care dollars are spent with more careful consideration.
The Collaborative Care model also promotes early detection and treatment of mental health conditions, which reduces the need for more costly services in the future. It is an inherent form of preventive care.
Blue Cross Collaborative Care helps you get the most out of your benefits.
Part of why it’s complicated to find mental health services on your own is because of the stigma. You may not know exactly what you need, so reaching out to multiple practices and expressing your struggles – only to wind up without a solution – can be discouraging. The longer you go without a good fit, the longer you delay crucial mental health care services.
Plus, mental health providers are far more scarce than physical health providers, so you may have trouble even connecting with a specialist, let alone finding one that suits your needs and is in your coverage network.
With Collaborative Care, your PCP’s practice can connect you to the right services based on recommendations from their behavioral health consultant. Often, you can work with a care team within the same PCP practice you visit for physical checkups and annual wellness visits.
This process ensures you maximize the wide range of behavioral health benefits included in your health insurance plan. Depending on your plan, these can include:
- Virtual Care by Teladoc Health®
- Help for substance use disorder
- Inpatient and outpatient therapy services
- Psychotherapy services
Our Collaborative Care designations are expanding.
In 2022, Blue Cross launched Collaborative Care designations for 213 physician practices, located in 33 counties throughout Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula. In 2025, that number has expanded to 320 primary care and 18 obstetrics/gynecology practices earning designation across the state.
Designated practices have systems in place to evaluate, treat and monitor patients’ mental health within the practice. This is part of the progression to team-based care influenced by the BCBSM Value Partnerships program. Value Partnerships is a collection of initiatives that improve health care quality and outcomes.
Learn more about how Blue Cross is ready to help support members and the community with mental health care here. You can also read these blogs about how Blue Cross is fighting to make health care more affordable for our members and customers:
- What You Can Do to Limit Your Spend on Health Care and Health Insurance
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is Ready to Help You With Your Whole Health
- What is Blue Cross Doing to Prevent Health Care Fraud?
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