Innovating Health Care: Tricia A. Keith’s Vision for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

• The new Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan President and Chief Executive Officer looks to transform the organization by prioritizing innovation, affordability, and customer experience.
• Collaboration within the health care system is vital to simplify the customer experience, drive better outcomes, and improve patient care.

View the full session recording below.

Making her public debut at the 2025 Detroit Policy Conference, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM)’s new President and Chief Executive Officer, Tricia A. Keith, took the stage to provide remarks and engage in an insightful conversation with WDIV-TV’s Christy McDonald about the complexities of the health care system, industry challenges, and how BCBSM is innovating to address these issues and improve affordability and customer experience. 

Keith explained that BCBSM’s Board of Directors specifically brought her on to transform the organization through innovation, following her predecessors, Dick Whitmer, who was tasked with stabilizing the company’s finances, and Daniel J. Loepp, who focused on diversifying its operations.

“The market has changed, and so bringing that innovation, bringing the technological advances with a relentless focus on affordability and customer experience, is what I intend to bring,” Keith said. 

Value Partnerships: The Key to Innovation at BCBSM 

One of the “tried-and-true” innovations Keith highlighted is a program called Value Partnerships. This initiative fosters collaboration and data sharing between physicians, hospitals, and BCBSM, aligning incentives to drive better outcomes and improve patient care. 

Programs like this are vital because, as Keith explained, health care operates within “a complex web of systems,” involving hospitals, doctors, lab technicians, insurers, employers, and pharmacists. “It’s our job to make sure that all works together as a system,” she said.  

However, such collaboration does not always happen naturally, as it is often hindered by government regulations, company policies, and other barriers. 

“In the end, it’s really about how we work together. And that is our challenge and how we will innovate to bring that forward,” Keith said. “Because when it all comes down together, what we’re here to do is to serve people.” 

Beyond its Value Partnerships program, BCBSM drives innovation by supporting a variety of organizations. 

“We support the Neighborhood Project here in Detroit; we support the safety net programs over time; and one that I’m really proud of is a Bright Start program that we have with Medicaid that produces culturally competent care through doulas to our Medicaid recipients,” Keith said. 

BCBSM’s Other Approaches to Innovation 

Many of BCBSM’s other innovations focus on technology, specifically AI. These initiatives include: 

• Gold carding, which streamlines patient care by automatically approving prescriptions from 1,400 qualified physicians, enhancing both the efficiency of care delivery and the overall member experience. 
• Member 360, which leverages data to proactively engage BCBSM members, providing personalized recommendations for their next best action. 
• Price Edge, which is a pharmaceutical program that automatically suggests lower-cost prescription drug alternatives. 
• Blue Cross Accelerated, which refines administrative costs and improves customer service. 

“We understand our premise was, ‘health care can be complicated.’ So, we want to make sure that we’re investing through AI and through technology to make sure that the digital tools we have are clear, that we have transparency in pricing with our hospital partners, with our physician partners,” Keith said. “And frankly, that we create shared outcomes and shared objectives with them to make sure that we’re all working together to knit that system together, to make it the best customer experience we can for the member.”