Anthem Blue Cross 2003 Annual Report Download - page 13

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ANTHEM, INC. page 11
The results clearly show better health for our members. Members with diabetes learned how
to better manage their condition and stay healthier by getting annual eye and foot examinations,
measuring blood glucose daily and controlling their blood pressure. Among heart failure patients,
there was a 33 percent increase in the number weighing themselves daily. This is important because
a sudden increase of 2 or 3 pounds can signal a potential health problem.
Harvard Medical School, through the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s BlueWorks
program, recently praised Anthem Care Counselor as an example of a program that’s helping
improve health and keep quality health care affordable. It’s also generating a high level of customer
satisfaction with members giving the program an overall satisfaction rating of 97 out of 100.
Similar to the Anthem Care Counselor is our StatusOne proactive care management program,
which works closely with our most chronically ill members in Connecticut, Maine and New
Hampshire. The program has helped members improve their health, and significantly reduced the
need for hospitalization.
Our other disease management programs are helping improve member health as well. A study
of nearly 80,000 patients by Health Management Corporation, an Anthem subsidiary and leading
disease management firm, found patients enrolled in programs for diabetes, asthma and coronary
artery disease improved their health while the overall cost of care for these members was 11 percent
less than for members not in the program.
How well we are meeting the needs of our members also is reflected by independent measures of
health care quality. Health plans in eight of our states hold the highest accreditation from the
National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the gold standard for health care accreditation.
We continue to improve our HEDIS威scores, which measure effectiveness of care on key health
concerns and on member satisfaction. Our Connecticut health plan ranks in the top 10 nationally, and
our Colorado, Kentucky and Connecticut plans each are among the top five in their respective regions.
Each success in one of our health care quality initiatives is a real-life example of how we are
improving the health of the people we serve.
a time for quality