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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Introduces Breast Cancer Care Program

Posted on: Monday, 17 April 2006, 15:00 CDT

ATLANTA, April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to improve breast cancer care for its members, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa) has introduced a new Breast Cancer Care Program designed for patients with breast cancer and their physicians.

The goals of this new program are to improve breast cancer care and to provide education and targeted interventions that promote informed decision making for patients; enhance communications between patients and their health care team; ensure the most appropriate treatment options consistent with accepted standards of care and best practice guidelines; and provide frontline support to patients with breast cancer.

For example, as part of this new program, Jenifer Hinkemeyer of Newman, Georgia, recently received a package from BCBSGa containing valuable information providing guidance and advice on what to expect in the months ahead during treatment.

"It was a nice surprise, and a good feeling, to know my insurance company cares about me," said Hinkemeyer. "This new program includes useful resources that has helped me better understand and cope with my diagnosis and treatment."

With feedback from the advisory panels, BCBSGa created new collateral and reading materials for the program. These materials address the various needs of breast cancer patients at different stages of their cancer journey.

"As we began creating the program, we formed two advisory panels, one of physicians and one of layperson survivors and support organization leaders, to advise on program development," said Sandra White, M.D., Medical Director, BCBSGa. "Key messaging was identified for both the physician audience and breast cancer patients. These were then considered during the process of selecting and developing materials for the effort, as well as in structuring the rollout plan."

"These pieces are designed to provide complete information to support informed decision-making, delivered in a 6-to-8 grade reading level, and are suitable to a diverse audience," said Dr. White.

The program materials include:

* BCBSGa Resource List - offers support and additional helpful resources to breast cancer patients and their caregivers.

* BCBSGa Patient Educational Book - contains information on many topics related to breast cancer. This booklet is designed to assist patients with breast cancer understand and cope with their disease.

* BCBSGa Patient Checklist of Questions to Ask the Doctor - suggests questions for the patient to ask the doctors at each stage of treatment. This should help patients arrive at treatment decisions they are comfortable with.

* BCBSGa General Treatment Guidelines for Breast Cancer - provides information on diagnosis staging of breast cancer and the related treatment decisions or options. This quick reference tool is designed for physicians who are not oncology specialists, to discuss breast cancer treatment options with their patient in general terms. (This piece is only distributed to physicians or other health care providers.)

* Understanding Breast Cancer - gives a brief overview of breast cancer and treatment options.

* Eating Well with Cancer - contains suggestions for dealing with the effects of treatment and good recipes to try.

* Working with Cancer - discusses working and a career, with a place to record important information.

"We have received a great deal of positive feedback from our members and medical providers," said Dr. White. "We understand what a difficult and confusing time it can be when diagnosed with breast cancer, and our goal is to ease the confusion and increase communications between the caregiver and the patient. We believe we are doing that through this program."

The program reaches all BCBSGa products -- HMO/POS, PPO, and Indemnity. To date, educational materials have been distributed to more than 6,000 patients nationally, and more than 5,200 physicians at over 7,200 office locations throughout Georgia. The program is expected to reach more than 3,500 patients annually.

BCBSGa has collaborated with community and clinical organizations to distribute the program materials. To date, the National Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer (NBLIC) partners and the Breast Health Connection of Georgia are including the BCBSGa tools within their community-based distribution networks throughout Georgia (reaching more than 600 breast cancer advocates). In addition, the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University has selected two BCBSGa pieces as part of their patient support program, and the staff of the Grady Health Clinic at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport are making program materials available for use in their health clinic activities.

BCBSGa is currently involved in a research project that will help BCBSGa identify additional educational needs of breast cancer patients and address possible disparities in care. BCBSGa is also researching how to achieve an effective transition of care from the cancer specialist back to the primary care physician for long-term follow-up of breast cancer survivors.

In addition to direct distribution, program materials are available for viewing and download on the BCBSGa website, http://www.bcbsga.com/ . For more information on participating in this program, please contact Nancy A. Rodriguez at 404-848-2334 or nancy.rodriguez@bcbsga.com .

About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and is an operating subsidiary of WellPoint Inc., 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, Blue Shield 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 Blue Shield of Georgia can be found on the web at http://www.bcbsga.com/ .

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia

CONTACT: Cindy Sanders of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia,+1-404-842-8406, cynthia.sanders@bcbsga.com

Web site: http://www.bcbsga.com/http://www.wellpoint.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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