Blue Distinction is a national
designation program, developed in collaboration with the medical community to
recognize those facilities that demonstrate expertise in delivering quality
specialty care — safely, efficiently, and cost effectively. Blue
Distinction Centers are a key part of Blue Plans? efforts to collaborate with
physicians and facilities to improve the overall quality, and resulting
affordability, of specialty care.
The Blue Distinction Centers for
Specialty Care? program is evolving from a
quality-focused designation to a more robust, value-based designation that will
recognize those facilities that demonstrate expertise in delivering quality
specialty care — safely, but also efficiently, and cost effectively.
The value-based designation is awarded
to facilities that meet stringent quality measures, focused on patient safety
and outcomes, as well as cost-of-care criteria, which will further
differentiate Blue Distinction Centers from other facilities. This may result
in a fewer number of facilities who are able to maintain their designation.
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, is
scoring the Requests For Information (RFI) that facilities recently submitted
for the Blue Distinction Spine Surgery and Knee and Hip Replacement programs
applying the value-based criteria. The other designations currently offered
include Cardiac Care, Bariatric Surgery, Complex and Rare Cancers, and
Transplants. Eligible facilities may apply during the RFI cycle, when offered,
for a particular designation. For the next RFI cycle for these designations,
the value-based criteria will be applied.
For those facilities that meet the
quality metrics, new cost criteria have been added to address market demand for
affordable health care amid significant cost variation for the specialty care
areas addressed by Blue Distinction programs.
On a national level, Blue Plans are
active in marketing Blue Distinction Centers to nearly 100 million members
through national public relations, recognition in a National Provider
Directory, and other promotional efforts.
For more information regarding the Blue
Distinction Program, please contact Phil Gehman at phil.gehman@ibx.com or 215-640-7694.