THOUSAND OAKS and OAKLAND -- UC Health -- the University of California's five academic medical centers -- and Anthem Blue Cross announced today (Jan. 17) that they have reached an agreement to continue the system's delivery of quality care to Anthem members.
"UC Health welcomes the opportunity to partner with Anthem Blue Cross," said Santiago Muñoz, chief strategy officer for UC health sciences and services. "UC Health is dedicated to providing the highest quality care. This agreement recognizes the important role academic medical centers play in educating physicians while serving as a springboard for developing strategies to improve care and reduce costs."
Generally, health plans and medical providers negotiate rates at which providers will be reimbursed for providing medical care. In addition to UC Health, Anthem Blue Cross has recently completed negotiations with other health systems including Sutter Health and Stanford Hospital & Clinics.
"Our mission is to help people get and stay healthy," said Pam Kehaly, president of Anthem Blue Cross. "We're thrilled to continue our relationship with UC Health so our members can continue to have access to high quality health care from these well-respected institutions."
As part of the agreement, rates will be tied to Anthem Blue Cross's Quality Insights Hospital Incentive Program (Q-HIPSM). This hospital quality program involves voluntary reporting of nationally vetted and recognized evidence-based quality indicators in three categories: patient safety, patient health outcomes and member satisfaction. In addition, the program incorporates quality metrics and pay-for-performance incentives for important patient safety initiatives, and its review process is transparent. The plan audits and externally validates the submitted hospital all-payer data, helping to ensure that the reporting hospital is promoting high quality and safe health care for all patients.
About Anthem Blue Cross
Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California. Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross name and symbol are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company is available at www.anthem.com. Also, follow Anthem on Twitter at www.twitter.com/healthjoinin, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HealthJoinIn or visit Anthem's YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/healthjoinin.
About UC Health
University of California Health includes five academic medical centers -- UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC San Diego and UC San Francisco -- with 10 hospitals and 16 health professional schools on seven UC campuses. More information is available at http://health.universityofcalifornia.edu.
Additional media contact
Darrel Ng, Darrel.Ng@WellPoint.com
(916) 208-7092
Public Relations Director
Anthem Blue Cross