FAQs

MOQC is not a Michigan Medicine Initiative. MOQC’s Coordinating Center team is physically located at the University of Michigan. This is the result of the Michigan Medicine Rogel Cancer Center initially proposing to establish the oncology collaborative with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM). Because of this relationship, MOQC is allowed access to Michigan Medicine’s infrastructure (e.g. space, IT). However, MOQC approaches and interacts with the Michigan Medicine’s Rogel Cancer Center in the same way it approaches and interacts with any MOQC oncology practice.

The following oncology practices are eligible to join MOQC:

• Provide medical oncology care to adults 18 years of age or older (which includes the administration of chemotherapy)
• Provide gynecology oncology care to adults 18 years of age or older (which includes the administration of chemotherapy)
• Participate in BCBSM’s Physician Group Incentive Program

To join MOQC, call us at 1.734.232.0043 or email MOQC at moqc@moqc.org

The main reasons to participate in MOQC:

• Data abstraction compensation for MOQC quality measures
• Share and benchmark performance and data to improve quality of oncology care
• Access to established quality projects, resources and experts
• Meet Medicare MIPS quality and performance improvement activity requirements under MACRA
• Receive Value-based Reward (VBR) for BCBSM PPO book of business for meeting quality targets
• Achieve Maintenance of Certification (MOC) points for American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) support upon the completion of MOQC initiatives
• Assist with publishing or presenting MOQC-related quality results
• Work collaboratively with other practices to share best practices

The Coordinating Center is a small group of people that are paid by BCBSM but who are employed to engage with all oncology practices across the state of Michigan to improve the quality of care. The size and make-up of the team of people is dependent on the needs of the practices that it serves. The team is led by Dr. Jennifer J. Griggs, a medical oncologist, Dr. Shitanshu Uppal, a gynecologic oncologist, and Dr. Emily Mackler, a pharmacist. You can find the rest of the team on our website at the Coordinating Center Team page.

Jennifer J Griggs, MD, MPH is a professor in Internal Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology.  She has practiced in medical oncology for nearly 25 years. In addition to her clinical expertise, Dr. Griggs provides leadership to MOQC and its practices with the goal of lifting the quality of oncology care across the state of Michigan in a collaborative way. She mentors faculty and fellows at the University of Michigan. She also leads research teams and publishes prolifically in the area of health disparities in cancer. She speaks regularly at academic and community events regarding the quality of cancer care and disparities in care according to race and ethnicity. Her other research interests include patient-provider communication, end-of-life care, and global medicine. Dr. Griggs has a special interest in narrative medicine, a field of medicine that encourages “radical listening” and honoring people’s stories.

Dr. Jennifer Griggs manages the day-to-day functions of MOQC. However, strategic and operational decisions that set direction, deploy resources, or require the review of quality data to set the focus of the Coordinating team are made in conjunction with our Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is an inter-disciplinary group of physicians and other health care professionals, including social workers, pharmacists, and nursing professionals, as well as patient advocates, from across the State of Michigan representing a cross section of oncology practices.

MOQC also welcomes feedback and ideas from practices. This is your Consortium and we strive to ensure that the work we do for you is meaningful and relevant to the care you provide to your patients.

MOQC is a BCBSM Collaborative Quality Initiative (CQI). All of MOQC’s financial support is provided by BCBSM. CQIs are partnerships between BCBSM, participating hospitals, physicians and a coordinating center team that leads the program. Practices share data to develop best practices around areas of care with high costs and high variation. Blue Cross never sees individual practice or physician data. However, the coordinating center uses data collected to identify opportunities for improvement. BCBSM allows the Coordinating team and its physician-led Steering Committees to drive the goals and areas of performance improvement. Quality improvement work benefits all patients regardless of insurance coverage. BCBSM believes that if quality is improved, costs will decrease and its members will benefit.

For more information about BCBSM Collaborative Quality Initiatives, click here.

In 2023, MOQC is pleased to collaborate with our new quality assessment database: Arbor Research.

To learn more, click here.