Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida's Better You from Blue Program Awarded NCQA Accreditation

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Better You from Blue, the Health Promotions program at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF), is the first health insurer sponsored wellness program in the state of Florida to be awarded the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) accreditation. NCQA Wellness & Health Promotion Accreditation is a nationally recognized accreditation that evaluates how well a health and wellness promotion organization manages all aspects of its program.

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"This significant achievement is external validation of the quality of the wellness programs that BCBSF offers to our members and is further demonstration of our commitment to improve the health of all Floridians," said Dr. Jannifer Harper, vice president, Medical Operations at BCBSF. "We are very proud of this achievement and will continue to enhance our wellness programs to meet the needs of our members and employers alike."

Better You from Blue provides health and wellness programs statewide for hundreds of the companies we insure, including BCBSF. The program helps employees and their families in making healthy behavioral changes, which reduce their health and injury risks, improve their health consumer skills, and enhance their individual productivity and well-being.

Benefits provided by Better You from Blue Health Promotion programs include: significant improvements in clinical indicators; substantial medical cost savings; attractive ROI results; and increases in member satisfaction.

Using an evidence-based set of requirements to distinguish quality services, the Wellness & Health Promotion Accreditation surveys include rigorous on-site and off-site evaluations of 12 standards conducted by a team of experts and analyzed by a national oversight committee of physicians.

The standards are intentionally set high to encourage health and wellness promotion organizations to continuously enhance the quality of their programming. No comparable evaluation exists for health and wellness promotion programs.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is a leader in Florida's health industry. Since 1944, the company has been dedicated to meeting the diverse needs of all those it serves by offering an array of choices. BCBSF is a not-for-profit, policyholder-owned, tax-paying mutual company. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., BCBSF is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information concerning BCBSF, please see its Web site at www.bcbsfl.com.

SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida