Blue Shield to invest $30m in California health care pilot programs

14-06-2018

Blue Shield to invest $30m in California health care pilot programs

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Blue Shield of California has collaborated with the California Medical Association (CMA) to build a new health care model that expands and streamlines patient's access to quality and affordable care.

Blue Shield said it will invest $30 million to support the initiative, beginning with two pilot projects in Monterey and Butte counties designed to bring health care into the digital age, tie pay to value and create a patient-centered experience through home- and community-based services.

The multi-year collaboration will see Blue Shield and CMA scale the projects statewide with a focus on supporting independent physicians.

“Today’s announcement is part of Blue Shield’s ongoing effort to create a health care system worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable," said Paul Markovich, president and CEO, Blue Shield of California. "We do this by collaborating with physicians, hospitals, clinicians, and other health care leaders to put people at the center of the health care system. We are starting small but thinking big.”

CMA president Theodore Mazer, said: “CMA is proud to collaborate with Blue Shield to bring California’s health care system further into the modern age. This innovative pilot project will utilize state-of-the-art technology to build a new health care model that expands and streamlines patient access to care while reducing administrative work. I would like to thank Blue Shield for recognizing the importance of investing in this effort to improve patient treatment, while reducing overwhelming administrative burdens, freeing physicians to be doctors rather than data entry technicians. We can, in this manner, create personal 21st century care.”

Healthcare, Investment, Blue Shield, CMA, Theodore Mazer, US