BlueWorks to Shed Light on What Works to Keep Healthcare Affordable; BCBSA Partners With Harvard Medical School to Promote Solutions 10/1/2003
From: Christopher Hamrick of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, 312-297-5954 or chris.hamrick@bcbsa.com WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 -- The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and the Harvard Medical School launched a first-of-its-kind partnership today to monitor and evaluate local Blue Plan initiatives to keep healthcare affordable. The announcement was part of the launch of BlueWorks, a campaign to shed light on the best practices within the Blue System to keep healthcare affordable and encourage adoption of the most effective practices. "Healthcare affordability is one of the top concerns in the country," said Scott P. Serota, BCBSA president and CEO. "With healthcare costs rising at an alarming rate, we all have to do our part to protect access to care today and for future generations. BlueWorks is one part of that solution and demonstrates the dedication of Blue Plans to their members and the communities they serve. Through the identification of what works, we can share good ideas across the Blue Cross and Blue Shield System and with others in the healthcare industry." At the BlueWorks launch, Serota was joined by Harvard's Barbara McNeil, M.D., Ph.D., Robert Shoptaw, CEO of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and chairman of the BCBSA board of directors, Larry Glasscock, chairman, president and CEO of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and by Ray McCaskey, president and CEO of Health Care Service Corporation (which does business as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Texas and New Mexico). Led by Dr. McNeil, David Blumenthal, M.D., MPP, and Edward Guadagnoli, Ph.D., the BlueWorks-Harvard partnership is the first resource of its kind to share ideas about what works and shine a light on efforts to expand affordability across America's healthcare system. "We are looking forward to working with the Harvard Medical School on this initiative," said Serota. "The integrity of their faculty and the quality of their work will truly help us make a difference in keeping healthcare affordable." BlueWorks will publish quarterly reports, beginning in January 2004, to identify and provide reviews of innovative Blue Plan initiatives that demonstrate promise in keeping healthcare affordable. In addition, BlueWorks will publish an in-depth analysis of how one Blue Plan initiative has worked to keep healthcare affordable. "With the heightened public concern about rising healthcare costs and the uninsured, now, more than ever, we must examine, address and educate others about the most effective and quality enhancing ways to mitigate rising healthcare costs," said Dr. McNeil. "That's the focus of BlueWorks, and we are pleased to have this opportunity to work with Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans in this important effort." SPOTLIGHT ON BLUEWORKS INITIATIVES The three Blue Plan CEOs highlighted examples of partnerships with hospitals and physicians that encourage delivery of quality medical care. Studies have shown that improved quality of care improves health outcomes and consumers' satisfaction and alleviates costs by holding down the rate of re-admissions due to medical errors, infection or other avoidable mistakes. One study estimated that if the quality of care is improved for the top six quality indicators of inpatient care to the level of the best-performing hospitals, $3 billion a year could be saved. Blue Plans have developed partnerships and programs with doctors and hospitals to encourage improved quality. Many of these initiatives are unique and effective programs that represent the type of "best-practices" that the Harvard partnership will identify and study. The Blue Plan examples featured at today's BlueWorks launch include: -- Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield was one of the nation's first health benefits companies to collaborate with physicians and hospitals on extensive quality programs, and to base increased reimbursement to them in part on how they rate on quality measures. Today, almost 400 hospitals are in quality programs, with many being reimbursed for their performance based on quality measures along with 14,000 Anthem network physicians. For more than a decade, Anthem has had a precedent-setting Hospital Quality Program. With more than 340 participating hospitals in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, there has been significant improvement in a broad set of metrics that address quality of care, clinical outcomes, patient safety, processes of care and organizational management structure. Results include increased use of life-saving medications for heart attack and congestive heart failure patients, fewer complications during laparoscopic, or gallbladder, surgeries, and nearly all participating hospitals have established patient safety as a strategic goal. Hospitals are provided data in a "scorecard" format. Each can compare itself with blinded aggregate data received from others by size or location. They also share best practices. -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois developed its Hospital Profile program in an effort to improve care within hospitals in 2002. As profile-related measures are incorporated into more hospital contracts, the program will increasingly reward performance and outcomes. Implemented in 2003, the program uses an advisory group, with representatives from seven diverse hospitals, to help develop the measures of performance. The profiles include The Leapfrog Group's patient safety measures, Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research indicators, member satisfaction, structural indicators and utilization efficiency. Each hospital's performance is compared with other hospitals in its peer group and a profile is created that assigns points based on performance relative to that peer group. The profiles have provided hospitals with new information about how their performance on quality and safety indicators compares with their peers, and have opened the door to discussions with hospitals about performance. -- Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield partnered with the local medical community to form the Arkansas Wellness Coalition to implement guidelines for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Arkansas ranks fifth highest in the incidence of diabetes among the 50 states. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Arkansas. Using nationally recognized peer-reviewed guidelines for physicians and patient self-management, the coalition works to coordinate efforts between healthcare providers and advocacy organizations to improve quality of care and health outcomes. The coalition has been recognized for its efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Arkansas Department of Public Health's Diabetes Prevention and Cardiovascular Health Programs also supports the coalition, which also includes the American Heart Association, the Arkansas Quality Improvement Organization, Arkansas Medicaid and University of Arkansas Medical Sciences. "BlueWorks will enable us to share Blue Plan experiences in helping to ensure access to affordable quality healthcare," said Serota. "The number one concern for healthcare consumers is affordability. BlueWorks is an important initiative that focuses on just that - keeping healthcare affordable." ------ The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is comprised of 42 independent, locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans that collectively provide healthcare coverage for more than 88.7 million -- nearly one-in-three -- Americans. For more information on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and its Plans, visit http://www.bcbs.com. |