Blue Shield of California Awards $29.6 Million in Pay-for-Performance Programs in 2009

Blue Shield of California Awards $29.6 Million in Pay-for-Performance Programs
in 2009

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Blue Shield of California
announced today that it will make $29.6 million in bonuses available to
medical groups and IPAs in California, and will award the money based on
performance. Blue Shield will pay medical groups and IPAs for high
achievement and improvement in areas that its members care the most about --
key clinical and patient experience metrics.

"At Blue Shield, we are committed to providing access to high quality care to
our members," said Juan Davila, senior vice president of network management at
Blue Shield of California. "Participating in the pay-for-performance program
allows us to encourage best practices from physicians, control the rising cost
of health care, and ensure members receive access to the care they need."

The largest portion of the dollar amount -- $12.5 million -- is linked to the
Integrated Healthcare Association's (IHA) pay-for-performance program. The
IHA program rewards providers for the quality of their health care services,
using measures such as clinical care, diabetes care, patient experience and
deployment of information technology. $9.6 million is being awarded under
Blue Shield's Performance Improvement Rewards Program, which recognizes and
rewards medical groups and IPAs for effectively managing emergency room
visits, outpatient surgeries, inpatient bed days, and generic drug
utilization. The remaining $7.5 million was awarded for shared savings and
other incentive programs.

In addition to the financial rewards, Blue Shield will reach out to medical
groups that ranked below average in their clinical scores to help them improve
their performance. These groups will be offered tips for improving clinical
care, along with information about a range of available additional resources,
such as patient registries. This year, there is also a new diabetes measure
created to help medical groups and IPAs improve comprehensive care for their
diabetic patients.

Since the launch of its pay-for-performance program in 2003, Blue Shield has
awarded over $78 million to providers. The pay-for-performance program has
improved the health of Blue Shield members by improving multiple clinical
metrics, such as increasing chlamydia screenings by 49.8 percent, HbA1c
control for diabetic patients by 64.4 percent, and colorectal cancer
screenings by 53 percent.

About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California, an independent member of the Blue Shield
Association, is a not-for-profit health plan dedicated to providing
Californians with access to high quality care at a reasonable price. Founded
in 1939, it now has 3.4 million members, 4,800 employees, one of the largest
provider networks and more than 20 office locations, providing a wide range of
commercial and government products throughout the state. The company has
contributed $100 million over the past three years to the Blue Shield of
California Foundation to fund nonprofit organizations that improve access to
quality health care in California. Contact your local agent or broker for more
information about Blue Shield products and services, or visit the Blue Shield
web site at www.blueshieldca.com.

CONTACT: Erica Perng
Corporate Communications Manager
(415) 229-6171
erica.perng@blueshieldca.com

SOURCE Blue Shield of California

Erica Perng, Corporate Communications Manager of Blue Shield of California,
+1-415-229-6171, erica.perng@blueshieldca.com