Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Introduces First-of-its-Kind Patient Centered Medical Home Program

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. (BCBSF) announces a statewide roll-out of its Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program, which aims to provide members the utmost in quality and cost-effective care.

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PCMH is an approach to providing comprehensive primary care that facilitates partnerships between individual patients, their personal doctors, and when appropriate, the patients' families. The PCMH's goal is to allow better access to health care, increase satisfaction with care, and improve overall health.

"Health care reform has helped renew the focus on the quality and affordability of care," said Dr. Jonathan Gavras, chief medical officer and senior vice president at BCBSF. "Our focus with the PCMH is to establish collaborative relationships with physicians to improve the delivery of quality care for members throughout the state."

Research has shown that primary care providers who give preventive health counseling, perform important screenings and immunizations, and assist with care coordination, are able to achieve lower rates of significant health issues for their patients.

Additionally, by establishing a stronger relationship between BCBSF, its network providers and its members, the result will be lower rates of hospitalization, which is a significant driver of health care costs.

BCBSF's PCMH program is initially targeting chronic medical conditions that have major health implications for our members. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic conditions – such as diabetes, heart conditions and the like – account for more than 75 percent of all health care costs.

Although available to all members, the PCMH program will focus on health maintenance, preventative care and overall management of members' progress with one or more of the following chronic diseases:

• Diabetes
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Asthma
• Congestive Heart Failure

The Florida provider community response to the BCBSF's PCMH program has been very positive. To date, more than 1,500 primary care providers are enrolled in the program. Collectively, these doctors care for nearly 530,000 BCBSF members.

Enrolled providers will receive additional compensation from BCBSF based on adherence to program guidelines and overall patient results. PCMH doctors are encouraged to communicate directly with impacted members and their families about the program, and to jointly work together to reach their disease management goals.

BCBSF members who are interested in learning more about the company's PCMH program can contact a BCBSF Care Consultant at 888-476-2227 for more information.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida
BCBSF is a leader in Florida's health industry. Since 1944, the company has been dedicated to meeting the diverse needs of all those it serves by offering an array of choices. BCBSF is a not-for-profit, policyholder-owned, tax-paying mutual company. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., BCBSF is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information concerning BCBSF, please see its website at www.bcbsfl.com.

SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida