Summer 2009

Care Comparison offers transparency in health care

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. (BCBSF) is introducing Care Comparison, a new transparency-related tool to assist our members as they navigate through the health care delivery system.

Care Comparison is a health care-comparison tool designed to help members evaluate the total estimated cost of approximately 40 specific medical procedures (bundles) at hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers or imaging centers. Each bundle includes the combined average allowance for the facility and physician.

The Care Comparison data is based on one year’s worth of BCBSF claims and will be updated monthly. Hospital quality information will also be provided, based on publicly reported data from the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), WebMD^® and The Leapfrog Group.

Care Comparison is currently being piloted with BCBSF employees. Employees can call and receive Care Comparison information directly from a BCBSF care consultant. The information used in the pilot will not be placed on the Internet or available to the external community at this time. The Care Comparison program will be extended to local and national accounts later this year and available to these members on our website through MyBlueService^SM, our secure members-only web portal.

BCBSF is engaging physicians and providers, answering questions and will enhance the effectiveness of the program based on feedback received. To date, physician/provider response to Care Comparison has been positive and insightful. Look for more information about Care Comparison in upcoming issues of BlueLine.