BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF TEXAS REDEFINES MEDICAL CARE MANAGEMENT WITH ITS INTEGRATED WELLNESS PROGRAM, BLUE CARE CONNECTION®
January 7, 2005, Richardson, Texas -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield has unveiled a program to provide clients with integrated medical care management. The program, Blue Care Connection®, provides a proactive wellness outreach effort to a group’s employees as part of their health care coverage. The purpose of this approach is to close gaps in care-- that have been identified as cost drivers-- for members who are healthy as well as those with chronic conditions to prevent the progression of diseases.
Consultant studies show that 20 percent of the workforce incurs 80 percent of a company’s total health care costs. Blue Care Connection®’s integrated Medical Care Management Program can bring significant cost savings through early care identification and intervention by emphasizing member empowerment and optimization of health care benefits.
“We’re pleased to provide the proactive outreach that helps clients save money and stay healthier and more productive,” says Darren Rodgers, senior vice president, Health Care Management, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. “One of the most effective components of the Blue Care Connection® program is the single point of contact provided through a Blue Care® advisor, a registered nurse, who integrates all aspects of the program. The advisor provides members and their families with personal telephone contact to help them understand their health care needs.”
Blue Care Connection® was designed to identify the factors driving up health care costs for specific clients and take action to impact the health care cost trend. Using predictive modeling, the program identifies members with gaps in care and where intervention is needed. A Blue Care® advisor contacts employees to educate them about how to manage their health problems and provides a plan of treatment in consultation with their physicians. This integrated approach to health care management can result in a reduction in non-trauma emergency room visits as well as reduce hospital admissions and average length of stay.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is the only statewide non-investor owned health coverage provider in Texas, serving more than 3.3 million members in all 254 counties. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is a division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
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