| First Health Plans Receive Bridges To Excellence Endorsement And Certification
The first health plans to receive the Bridges to
Excellence (BTE) Incentive and Reward Program Endorsement and the BTE
Certification were revealed by BTE.
Aetna and CIGNA received the BTE Certification for
multiple sites across the country. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
achieved the BTE Incentive and Reward Program Endorsement, the first
plan to receive this designation.
The designations were launched in late 2007 and are
meant to help employers, physicians and consumers better understand how
a health plan is implementing the BTE programs.
"These initiatives help health plans to more effectively
implement Bridges to Excellence programs and make it easier for plans
to recognize and reward doctors who demonstrate they have made
significant improvements in the management of patients and deliver
quality care," said Dr. Troyen A. Brennan, senior vice president and
chief medical officer for Aetna Inc. and a BTE board member.
Health plans that have received the BTE Certification
have demonstrated a very strong commitment to implementing the BTE
programs as an administratively simple and efficient solution for
employers.
The BTE Incentive and Reward Program Endorsement is
intended for plans developing their own network-wide incentive and
reward program. The designation is achieved after a rigorous review of
the health plan’s program and its adherence to a set of core
principles that are foundational to BTE’s mission.
"We are pleased to receive the BTE Certification, as it
underscores CIGNA’s commitment to quality and our efforts to
improve the health and well-being of our members," said Dr. Jeff Kang,
CIGNA’s chief medical officer.
To apply for either of these programs, health plans must
already be licensed by BTE and actively implementing the programs in
one or more sites. More than 15 health plans nationally have licensed
BTE and are incorporating the BTE principles into their own
pay-for-performance programs, allowing purchasers to participate in a
boundary-less fashion.
"Employers need to ask for these recognitions as part of
their health plan sourcing," said Charles Montreuil, vice president of
corporate human resources at Carlson and BTE president and board chair.
"These designations will be part of the critical information we use
when selecting a health plan."
Address: Bridges to Excellence, 13 Sugar St., Newton, CT 06470; www.bridgestoexcellence.org.
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