Study: Blue Cross program yields savings

BOSTON – An independent study released in the New England Journal of Medicine this month said that the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Alternative Quality Contract has improved the quality of patient care and lowered costs in the four years since it was first implemented.
The study – conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and funded by the Commonwealth Fund and the National Institute on Aging – compares Blue Cross members with a Primary Care Physician in an AQC contract with a control group comprised of commercially insured individuals across eight northeastern states (Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont).
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts said the findings relative to the control group are important because they account for more general trends locally and nationally.
The study also demonstrates significant quality improvements achieved under the AQC. While quality scores for Blue Cross members were on par with regional and national averages prior to the AQC contract, the dramatic improvements in quality over the course of the contract show that members now receive quality of care that is significantly higher than national averages. •

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