INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Programs that help members maintain or improve their health while coping with diabetes, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) recently garnered national honors for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (Anthem) plans in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
The BioTech Medical Management Association (BMMA), Disease Management Association of America (DMAA), and the National Coalition on Business Health (NCBH) all recognized Anthem’s disease management programs for innovative approaches and best practices in disease management.
BMMA honored Anthem with two “Leadership in Healthcare” awards for diabetes and COPD programs that help boost health status. Anthem, only one of two health care organizations to receive recognition for providing exceptional programs and products in their communities, accepted the awards at BMMA’s annual conference in November. DMAA gave a Gold Award, its top prize for poster presentations, to Anthem for its diabetes member calendar. And NCBH presented an eValue8 Health Plan Innovation Award to Anthem for excellence in asthma disease management. Anthem was one of four winners to be selected from approximately 50 plans that were nominated.
About Anthem’s Disease Management Programs
“Comprehensive, integrated and collaborative approaches to disease management can help improve health, as Anthem results demonstrate,” said Samuel Cramer, M.D., medical director for Anthem’s Midwest operations. “Members in Anthem’s disease management programs show lower rates of hospitalization and fewer Emergency Room visits and most report higher levels of satisfaction with their quality of life.”
Anthem’s disease management programs target both members and their physicians. Enrolled members get quarterly education mailings, annual flu shot reminders, and reference materials and tools that help them understand their disease and the steps they can take to manage their condition and preserve their health. In addition, those at high risk or with co-morbid conditions receive case management services. Anthem also provides enrolled members’ physicians with member profiles, medication utilization profiles and disease-specific guidelines, based on nationally developed measurements.
Currently, more than 100,000 members in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio who have been diagnosed with diabetes or have risk factors for the disease and another 120,000 who have asthma receive disease management benefits. In addition, approximately 29,000 members with COPD, a group of diseases, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, characterized by irreversible loss of lung capacity, participate in the COPD program.
“Our disease management programs help many of our members realize that they can, and should, take active roles in managing their care, in collaboration with their physicians,” noted Dr. Cramer. “For example, as part of the materials provided in these programs, members diagnosed with asthma, COPD and diabetes receive a customized wall calendar in late December, filled with information specific to their condition, including basic facts about the disease, its standard treatment regimen, reminders for routine physician appointments, and even suggestions for getting the most benefit out of the doctor visit.”
The calendar is mailed to over 262,000 members in the Midwest annually and is also available on Anthem’s health information resource website, MyHealth@Anthem at http://www.anthem.com/ .
As options for treatment of chronic diseases, including new drug therapies, become more widespread, and the number of members requiring disease management services continues to grow, Anthem has responded to the need for greater education and support to members by broadening its outreach. The company began expanding its disease management programs in the 1990s, adding COPD in 2002.
“Over the past 10 - 15 years, we have boosted the number of members participating in these programs,” Dr. Cramer added. “While diabetes, asthma and COPD diagnoses are rising at alarming rates, our results demonstrate that relatively inexpensive, low-tech interventions can help moderate the cost of care while helping members improve their quality of life.”
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is a subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc. . WellPoint, Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through HealthLink and UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at http://www.wellpoint.com/ .
WellPoint, Inc.
CONTACT: Debbie Davis of WellPoint, Inc., +1-317-488-6207