Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Works With Monmouth County to Improve the Quality and Delivery of Care for County Workforce
Newark, NJ (PRWEB) December 05, 2013 -- New results show that Monmouth County public employees are benefitting from a new wellness initiative designed by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. County employees who used physicians in Horizon BCBSNJ’s Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program showed a significant increase in preventive screenings, one of the goals of the program.
“Monmouth County is working to keep its employees healthy and better manage its health care costs by getting workers more engaged in preventive screenings and wellness care,” said Al Bowles, Vice President of Commercial and Major Accounts for Horizon BCBSNJ. “Together, we designed a program to encourage employees to undergo timely health screenings, and also to test how much a patient-centered program can influence engagement. The results were extraordinary.”
All Monmouth County employees received educational materials, incentives and rewards to encourage them and their family members to undergo health and wellness screenings as part of the initiative, which started in September, 2012, and ended in February, 2013.
During the six-month initiative, approximately one-in-eight Monmouth County employees (and dependents) covered by Horizon BCBSNJ were under the care of a participating medical home practice. PCMH practices made direct contact with their Monmouth County covered patients to encourage health and wellness screenings as part of this pilot.
While Monmouth County recorded improved health screenings workforce-wide, those employees attributed to a PCMH practice improved at a highly accelerated rate:
Colorectal Screenings:
Non-PCMH County workers - 10% increase.
PCMH members - 33% increase.
Total Average -- 13% increase
Breast Cancer Screenings
Non-PCMH members -- 3% increase.
PCMH members – 23% increase.
Total Average – 9% increase.
Horizon BCBSNJ is leading an effort with physicians and hospitals to transform the delivery of health care to focus on the value of care, not the volume of care. Horizon BCBSNJ’s PCMH physicians coordinate patients’ health care needs, and helps ensure that they receive quality care, in the right setting and at the right time. This approach provides personalized, proactive and comprehensive care that enables patients to become engaged in their health care.
“This initiative demonstrates how positive health outcomes result when an employer group, its insurer, doctors, nurses and patients all get engaged in health and wellness,” Monmouth County Freeholder Gary J. Rich, Sr. said. “These results underscore the importance of early detection and prevention for our employees, which is key to managing personal health and helping the County keep health care costs under control.”
“Adopting the Patient-Centered Medical Home model into our practice assures a more personalized level of care,” said Dr. Anthony DeLuca of Partners of Freedom in Wall and Howell, one of Horizon BCBSNJ’s PCMH practices. “Patient satisfaction and outcomes have improved with our concentration on prevention, care coordination and quality improvement.”
About Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s oldest and largest health insurer, is a tax-paying, not-for-profit health services corporation, providing a wide array of medical, dental, and prescription insurance products and services. Horizon BCBSNJ is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, serving 3.7 million members with headquarters in Newark and offices in Wall, Mt. Laurel, and West Trenton. Learn more at http://www.HorizonBlue.com.
Thomas Vincz, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, http://www.horizonblue.com, 973-466-6625, [email protected]
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