Anthem Blue Cross, ApolloMed Team to Provide Hospitalist Services for Medi-Cal Members

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., March 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Anthem Blue Cross and ApolloMed announced today a new agreement to provide comprehensive physician services and inpatient care for members enrolled in Anthem's Medi-Cal program in Los Angeles County. The program will serve adult Medi-Cal members including individuals enrolled in the state's Seniors and People with Disabilities (SPD) program who select Anthem as their health plan, when the state's SPD program transitions into managed care in June 2011.

The cornerstone of Anthem's state sponsored programs is founded on providing members with a coordinated approach to their health care. That's why when members need hospitalization, it's important to ensure that they have continued access to quality care. With a presence at 24 acute care hospitals in the Greater Los Angeles area, ApolloMed will enhance the health outcomes of Anthem's Medi-Cal members through the effective management of their inpatient care and help reduce costs associated with hospitalization. In fact, studies show that hospitalists can help reduce the length of stay by more than 30 percent and reduce hospital costs by up to 20 percent.  

"We are proud to have been selected by Anthem Blue Cross as their hospitalist partner. ApolloMed is uniquely suited to partner with Anthem to manage their members' care during hospitalization with the goal of lower admission rates and length of stay as well as enhancing the quality of care," said Warren Hosseinion, M.D., chief executive officer of Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc.

According to Anthem, members will be seen by a physician multiple times throughout the day, thus helping to improve the efficiency and quality of their hospital stay. In addition, this will provide physicians the opportunity to review members' progress and plan for a timely discharge with a transition plan that includes appropriate outpatient follow-up care and support services aimed at preventing a re-admission to the hospital.

"Anthem understands that a hospitalization can be a worrisome experience for our members; we want to ensure that any time our members require hospitalization they have access to comprehensive  health care and feel confident that they will have a successful discharge and a recovery," said Kevin Hayden, president of Anthem's State Sponsored Business. "Our agreement with ApolloMed will enhance the quality of care our members receive during their hospitalization to help improve health outcomes," added Hayden.

Anthem's addition of the hospitalist agreement further complements existing programs available to Anthem's Medi-Cal members such as the DailyMed Pharmacy Program, 24-hour physician on-call program and the 24-hour care management and case management program.

"ApolloMed and our physicians are excited about the opportunity to partner with Anthem to improve the quality of care for their hospitalized Medi-Cal members. All of ApolloMed's physicians are board certified in internal medicine and excel at reducing avoidable inpatient utilization and coordinating effective discharge planning," stated Adrian Vazquez, M.D., president, and chairman of Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc. "ApolloMed's goal is to manage members' hospitalizations and collaboratively plan for an effective transition to an outpatient setting. ApolloMed believes that integrating and coordinating care across settings and between hospitalists and ambulatory care providers is the critical factor in achieving the balance between optimal length of stay and avoidable re-admissions," explained Vazquez.  

ApolloMed anticipates adding new hospitals to their list of the existing facilities they serve to support Anthem's membership. They also plan to add additional post-discharge outpatient clinics to ensure that members have access to timely physician follow-up care until their medical provider is available to resume the management of their care following discharge.

About Anthem Blue Cross:

Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California.  Anthem Blue Cross Partnership Plan is the trade name of Blue Cross of California Partnership Plan. Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Partnership Plan are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association. ® ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc.  The Blue Cross names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross is available at www.anthem.com/ca. Also, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/healthjoinin, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HealthJoinIn, , or visit our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/healthjoinin

About Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc.

Apollo is a leading provider of integrated medical management services that improves the efficiency in inpatient care plus multi-disciplinary care management services targeting inefficiencies in healthcare payer and provider networks. Our integrated model combines hospitalist medicine, 24-hour physician call centers, case management and transition management that offers to help healthcare organizations engage in performance payments for utilization efficiency, quality of care objectives and shared accountability arrangements. The company intends to capitalize on the growing market for hospital-based physicians and care management services. There are 4900 acute care hospitals in the U.S., with over 35 million annual admissions. Total U.S. spending on hospital care is over $650 billion, and is expected to increase to $1.3 trillion by 2016. There are tremendous inefficiencies in the delivery of inpatient care, a high rate of hospital errors and high readmission rates. These are drivers for the growth of hospital-based medicine and care management services. Apollo and its affiliated medical groups have proven expertise in providing excellent and efficient care to hospitalized patients. www.apollomed.net.

SOURCE Anthem Blue Cross