Academy Joins Specialty Societies: Meets with Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

 email to a friend  |   print  |   Post a comment

Published on July 29, 2009

Working with a coalition of specialty societies, the Academy arranged a July meeting at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) offices in Chicago to discuss areas of mutual interest and potential collaboration between physicians and insurers in the face of a changing health care landscape. Academy member Rita M. Richardson, MD (Grand Forks, ND) served as co-chair for the meeting along with Allan Korn, MD, Senior VP and Chief Medical Officer of BCBSA, and Toni Mills, a senior member of Korn's executive staff.

Korn's remarks indicated that BCBSA is highly interested in an ongoing, collaborative working relationship with the physician community to develop creative, mutually beneficial health care solutions focusing on improving care quality, and reining in unnecessary health care costs.

Alan Rosenberg, MD, Vice President of Medical Policy and Credentialing Programs for WellPoint, publicly acknowledged the AAN as scientifically rigorous in guideline development and thanked the Academy for its commitment. WellPoint is a BCBS licensee in 14 states.

1. Maintenance of Certification (MOC) IV
2. Adoption and implementation of quality measures and programs, including patient-centered Medical Home pilot projects
3. Registries
4. Health Information Technology: HIPPA 5010 and ICD-10 implementation
5. Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER)

As a result of the meeting, BCBSA invited the specialty societies to attend the Annual BCBS Meeting in October 2009, providing an opportunity to interface with Medical Directors from a number of the 39 independent, community-based and locally operated BCBS companies.

Related Information

• Visit the BCBSA website
• Visit the WellPoint website

 email to a friend  |   print