CHICAGO, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T announced today a multimillion- dollar national agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) for an array of network services that supports streamlined claims processing, enhanced call-center management capabilities and real-time access to patient and provider information -- while providing significant cost savings to participating Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.
The contract extends and expands an existing national agreement, and continues AT&T’s long-standing relationship with BCBSA and its member plans as their primary networking services provider. BCBSA is made up of 41 independent, locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide healthcare coverage to more than 88 million -- nearly one-in-three -- Americans.
Earlier this year AT&T and BCBSA announced a contract for AT&T to provide enterprise hosting and storage area networking services in its Chicagoland Internet Data Center (IDC) that enable the Association to deploy a nationwide Provider Data Repository (PDR). The enhanced, centralized online database lists contact information on all BlueCard(R) Program accessible healthcare providers that contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, including doctors, hospitals, dentists, clinics and other healthcare facilities.
Under the new umbrella agreement, Blue Plans across the country gain access to a full portfolio of AT&T voice, data, hosting, Internet Protocol (IP) and managed services. The contract provides Blue Plans an integrated, standardized communications platform at nationally negotiated prices - helping them control costs as they increasingly rely on the Internet and private networks to exchange critical information among members and providers.
“We are continually looking at ways to help our member organizations provide affordable healthcare and best-in-class service to their customers,” said Jody Voss, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Executive Director of Business Development. “By extending our relationship with AT&T under a national agreement, we are able to provide Blue Plans with significant savings and innovative, reliable options for all their networking needs.”
Under the contract, AT&T will offer call-center management consulting services to help Blue Plans optimize voice traffic flow, circuit usage and attendant efficiency. AT&T also will provide consulting services to Blue Plans to access technological readiness for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in call centers, enabling them to utilize this emerging technology to further reduce costs by consolidating voice traffic on their existing data networks.
Services provided under the national agreement will be integrated through AT&T OneNet(R) Service, which consolidates networking services into a single contract, with a single bill and discounts across all services. Through the secure AT&T BusinessDirect(R) portal, BCBSA member companies have around-the- clock online access to real-time reports on network performance and direct connection to electronic billing and trouble management systems.
About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is comprised of 41 independent, locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans that collectively provide healthcare coverage for more than 88 million -- nearly one-in-three -- Americans. For more information on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and its Plans, visit http://www.bcbs.com/.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991018/ATT )
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991018/ATTAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comAT&T
CONTACT: Mike Pruyn, +1-312-230-4894 (office), +1-312-953-1157 (mobile),mpruyn@att.com, or Agnes Hicks, +1-312-230-4648 (office), +1-630-484-1503(mobile), agneshicks@att.com, both of AT&T
Web site: http://www.att.com/http://www.bcbs.com/
