Independence Blue Cross Clinical Care Innovation Program wins top honors from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

Independence Blue Cross (IBX) was honored recently with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association's (BCBSA) Brand Innovation Award. IBX won the award for its Clinical Care Innovation Program, which supports hospitals and doctors efforts to develop and test rapid, safe, and structured approaches to improve health care.

Every year, Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Plans compete for the prestigious award, which is presented by the BCBS Board of Directors. It recognizes projects and programs that have had a significant and measurable impact on Plan members and strengthen the BCBS brand.

"We are extremely proud to receive this award and appreciate the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association's recognition of our Clinical Care Innovation Program's impact to date and the potential to improve health care for our members and in the communities we serve. The shared journey we've been on with health systems and specialty groups helps to mature value-based care programs and accelerate improvements in care delivery that we can measure, replicate, and scale," says Independence Blue Cross President and CEO Gregory E. Deavens.

IBX's Clinical Care Innovation Program supports providers who are leading the way to improve health outcomes, break down barriers to care, and drive increased cost efficiency in the system for the benefit of members and customers. The program funds grants and pilots to support:

• Innovative care delivery ideas needing a defined population, relevant insurer data, and financial support to better assess clinical and financial efficacy.
• Cutting edge models of care that have demonstrated success in investigational settings or outside the Philadelphia market but require further development to optimize their value for IBX members.
• Mature initiatives that have been proven with IBX provider(s) and are being scaled more broadly across the network.

"We set out to prove that we can create a better way to evaluate and scale innovations that impact care delivery if we support and partner with the hospitals and doctors in our network," said Dr. Rodrigo Cerdá, senior vice president of Health Services and chief medical officer at Independence Blue Cross. "We've already seen approximately 50 percent of the ideas we've supported through the program move to the stage where they're scaling to larger member populations and beyond. That's the point where they start to make a difference in member experience, health outcomes, and cost of care."

The Brand Innovation Award was established by the BCBSA in 2011. Its goal is to help promote innovative solutions that can help members and communities live their healthiest lives. All Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans are invited to compete for the award and are encouraged to focus their application on their most innovative program. The award recognizes excellence in innovation defined by four criteria: brand impact, impact of the innovation on customers and business, originality, scalability, and customer experience. This is IBX's first time winning the award.

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Diana Quattrone
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