Blue Cross of California Pays Out Over $69 Million in Physician Bonus Incentives
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ — . Blue Cross of California (Blue Cross) today announced physician bonus incentives as part of its 2006 HMO Quality Scorecard program, continuing its commitment to promoting quality, affordable health care to Californians. One hundred and seventy-six participating physician groups throughout the state were paid incentives totaling over $69 million, the most ever paid using Blue Cross’ Quality Scorecard. Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group, located in San Diego, CA, is this year’s top-performing physician group for the entire state.
“Physicians who strive to improve quality and patient service should be rewarded,” said Dr. Michael Belman, Medical Director for Clinical Quality and Innovations for Blue Cross. “Since implementing this program, we’ve seen the performance level of physician groups increase significantly in both clinical quality and member satisfaction.”
Blue Cross has been a leading participant in the Integrated Healthcare Association’s Pay-For-Performance Program since 2001, paying out more physician bonus incentives than any other health plan in the state. The HMO Quality Scorecard program rewards physician groups for improving the quality of care given to HMO patients using health outcomes and patient satisfaction information from a number of clinical and service categories. The quality measures include patient satisfaction surveys, clinical measures, waiting times for appointments, number of complaints and grievances, and review of medical group or IPA functions. Performance in managing chronic diseases such as asthma and diabetes and adherence to screening guidelines for breast and cervical cancer were some of the clinical measures tracked.
“We strive to offer quality care that sets community standards and exceeds our patients’ expectations,” said Donald C. Balfour, III, M.D., President and Medical Director of Sharp Rees-Stealy. “Being chosen as the top performing physician group in the state shows that we are upholding that commitment to our patients and community.”
About Blue Cross of California:
Blue Cross of California is a subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc. . WellPoint’s mission is to improve the lives of the people it serves and the health of its communities. WellPoint, Inc. is the largest publicly traded commercial health benefits company in terms of membership in the United States. WellPoint, Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan counties and as Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at http://www.wellpoint.com/.
Blue Cross of California
CONTACT: Southern California, Peggy Hinz, +1-805-557-6791,peggy.hinz@wellpoint.com, or Northern California, Nick Garcia,+1-916-447-9280, nick.garcia@wellpoint.com, both of Wellpoint, Inc., for BlueCross of California
Web site: http://www.wellpoint.com/