Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' Alternative Quality Contract Offers New Contracting Design

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' Alternative Quality Contract Offers
New Contracting Design
New Report from HealthLeaders-InterStudy Provides Snapshot of Massachusetts'
Managed Care and Healthcare Environment

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a leading
provider of managed care market intelligence, reports that Blue Cross Blue
Shield of Massachusetts is making a significant change from its traditional
fee-for-service contracts with its Alternative Quality Contract. Begun in
2008, the Alternative Quality Contract is intended to combine the best
features of capitation and pay-for-performance. The voluntary option includes
two forms of payments: a fixed payment per patient, per year, adjusted for the
health of the patient, and performance incentives tied to nationally accepted
measures of quality, effectiveness and improvement of care.

According to the recent Springfield Market Overview, Hampden County Physician
Associates was one of the first providers in Massachusetts to sign a five-year
Alternative Quality Contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. The
five-year contract includes an annual payment adjusted for inflation and for
sicker patients, and bonuses based on quality-of-care performance. Hampden
County Physician Associates also is working on becoming accredited as a
medical home.

"As of July, more than 2,000 physicians were included in the Alternative
Quality Contract, demonstrating the increasing uptake of these
performance-based initiatives," said Deborah White, market analyst with
HealthLeaders-InterStudy. "While discussions around national healthcare reform
have a lot of people looking at what's happening in Massachusetts, the
outcomes of this Alternative Quality Contract will be closely watched."

Why Pharmaceutical Companies Need Market Overviews
Market Overviews provide a detailed analysis of local healthcare market
drivers in 87 of the nation's most dynamic metro areas, allowing
pharmaceutical executives to quickly gain local area expertise. Each report
provides local-level insights into: health systems and hospitals, physicians,
health plans, Medicare/Medicaid, pharmaceutical environment, legislation and
employers.

About HealthLeaders-InterStudy
HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a Decision Resources, Inc. company, is the
authoritative source for managed care data, analysis and news. For more
information, please visit www.HL-ISY.com.

About Decision Resources, Inc.
Decision Resources, Inc. is a cohesive portfolio of companies that offers
best-in-class, high-value information and insights on important sectors of the
healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed
decisions. Please visit Decision Resources, Inc. at
www.DecisionResourcesInc.com.

All company, brand or product names contained in this document may be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

For more information, contact:

Lisa Osgood Elizabeth Marshall
HealthLeaders-InterStudy Decision Resources, Inc.
781-296-2606 781-296-2563
losgood@hl-isy.com emarshall@dresources.com

SOURCE HealthLeaders-InterStudy

Lisa Osgood of HealthLeaders-InterStudy, +1-781-296-2606, losgood@hl-isy.com;
or Elizabeth Marshall of Decision Resources, Inc., +1-781-296-2563,
emarshall@dresources.com