A Health Care Hero Says Thank You
Dr. David Share
| 3 min read
M.D., SVP Value Partnerships
Last week I received the Crain’s Health Care Heroes Award for Corporate Achievement, in recognition of the tremendous performance of the Value Partnerships programs. While I am honored to be associated with such an award, what’s truly worth celebrating is the ten years of collaboration and progress of the Value Partnerships program. Value Partnerships is transforming Michigan’s health care system and quality performance in truly ground-breaking ways. The partnerships we engage in with the provider community enable and empower physicians in their practices, as well as their hospital counterparts, to transform the cost and quality of care. Our key initiatives include:
- The Patient Centered Medical Home program, which empowers our formidable healthcare providers to strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, and provides team-based care to millions of Michiganders.
- Collaborative Quality Initiative programs that have improved the quality of care for our members and others across the state and saved countless lives.
- Organized Systems of Care that have offered coordinated care across health care settings for more than 1.3 million patients.
The Value Partnerships programs in total have transformed Michigan’s health care environment by working together to improve processes, quality and outcomes. As a result, Michigan residents are getting the care they need, at the right time and in the right setting. They are experiencing fewer complications, going to the ER less and being admitted to the hospital less. This has prevented roughly $1.4 billion in health costs. So, while I am greatly honored to have received the Crain’s Health Care Heroes award, the honor really belongs to the Value Partnerships participants – the 19,000 physicians, 46 physician organizations and 75 hospitals that collaborate to make health care better in Michigan, and our passionate and capable Value Partnerships and data analytics team at Blue Cross. I hope that it motivates all those involved in collaborations across the state to push forward, fueled by our shared passion and commitment to those we serve. Thank you, Crain’s Detroit Business, for this distinguished recognition. About the author: David A. Share, MD, MPH, serves as Senior Vice President, Value Partnerships, at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Dr. Share also served for 30 years as founding Medical Director of The Corner Health Center in Ypsilanti, a community-based health center for teenagers and their children, where he still practices medicine. Dr. Share earned his Master of Public Health, medical and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Michigan, where he is an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Pediatrics. Dr. Share serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS). He chaired the MSMS Committee on Michigan’s Public Health from 2000-2011, and also served as the chair of the MSMS Task Force on the Future of Medicine, as well as the Community Wellness working group of the Future of Medicine Task Force. In 2000 he served as President of the Washtenaw County Medical Society. He serves as a Director and the Secretary of the Washtenaw Health Plan, a county health insurance program for indigent people with no other source of health insurance. Dr. Share served on the Commission for a High Performance Health System of the Commonwealth Fund. Dr. Share is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine.
