Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Partners with WellSky® and tango to Deliver High Quality Post-Acute Care Management
Blue Daily
| 3 min read
Key Takeaways
- Together, tango and WellSky provide a data-driven approach to addressing long standing challenges in post-acute care (PAC).
- PAC services support recovery through rehabilitation, skilled nursing, wound care and other interventions that help our members recover confidently in their home.
- The WellSky-tango partnership aligns with BCBSM values by providing a prospective, episodic reimbursement model that also includes value-based incentives for home health care providers.
Post-acute care (PAC) represents a significant share of U.S. health care spending and plays a critical role in helping patients move safely from the hospital to the most appropriate next level of care – often their homes.
These services support recovery through rehabilitation, skilled nursing, wound care and other interventions that help our members recover confidently and whenever possible, in their home, honoring patient preferences.
To further our commitment to affordability and coordinated care, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) is partnering with WellSky and tango beginning in 2026 to deliver a comprehensive PAC and Home Health Care (HHC) management program.
tango is a value-based and post-acute management company that speeds up the start-of-care process, which is critical in ensuring members recover at home following an acute medical issue.
WellSky offers robust acute and post-acute technology, analytics and services. Together, tango and WellSky provide a data-driven approach to addressing long standing challenges in PAC including:
- Limited or delayed access to appropriate transitions
- Misaligned incentives across post-acute continuum that do not favor home care, if possible
- Limited integration and connectivity
- Reimbursement challenges that limit Medicare Advantage beneficiaries’ access to home health care
Supporting high-quality, well-coordinated post-acute care aligns with our mission to help keep health care affordable
A coordinated PAC and HHC episode management program helps ensure members receive the right care at the right time – from hospital admission through discharge and into the home-based recovery.
The partnership with WellSky and tango enhances this experience by offering end‑to‑end management and coordination of members throughout their post-acute journey, ensuring appropriateness of services, optimizing site of care, and driving high quality outcomes in the most cost-effective setting, enabling the home as a primary destination following an admission, whenever possible. Key program benefits include
- Appropriate utilization of post-acute and home health care services, mid-stay progress checks, onsite liaisons for high volume PAC facilities and ongoing active engagement
- Expedient responses to authorization requests and assistance with placement for Medicare Advantage members in home health services
- Transition of care support throughout the entire post-acute journey
- Efforts to reduce avoidable admissions and readmissions
When the program launches in early 2026, prior authorization will continue for PAC services, and home health care services for select BCBSM Medicare Advantage products will also now require prior authorization.
Aligning incentives and strengthening provider partnerships
BCBSM is committed to working collaboratively with providers to support timely access, high-quality care, and sustainable delivery models with payment innovation to support care across the poste-acute continuum.
The WellSky-tango partnership advances this commitment through a prospective, episodic reimbursement model that also includes value-based incentives for home health care providers.
Our model is designed to align incentives, reduce administrative complexity, improve predictability for providers, and reward them for quality care and outcomes, an approach that includes innovative payment models, better care coordination and a focus on the home as an efficient care setting, which benefits both patients and insurers. Key elements of the program that support provider collaboration include:
- Value-based provider contracts
- Provider enablement services that facilitate participation, performance, and care coordination
- Payment approaches informed by local market dynamics and refined across multiple markets to support provider sustainability
Reimbursement rates within the program vary based on reimbursement guidelines, provider type, and location, with the goal of ensuring fair, market-appropriate compensation.
Through this approach, BCBSM continues to invest in partnerships that promote access, coordination and value; supporting providers as essential partners in delivering high-quality post-acute care.
tango and WellSky, respectively, are independent companies providing post-acute care management and coordination services to BCBSM members.
Learn more about BCBSM’s commitment to affordability here.
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