Independence Blue Cross and Jefferson Health System Reach Early Agreement on New Contracts

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- In a shared commitment to improving the quality and affordability of health care in southeastern Pennsylvania, the region's leading health insurer, Independence Blue Cross (IBC), and the area's largest health care system, the Jefferson Health System (JHS), announced today that they have reached an early renewal on new two-year contracts.

The agreements include the commitment to implement a new, enhanced incentive plan designed to reward providing better coordinated, higher quality, and more cost-effective care through JHS's hospitals and physicians. IBC calls this new plan to increase pay for improved performance the Integrated Provider Performance Incentive Plan (IPPIP), and it replaces the pay for performance program in IBC's current hospital contracts.

The renewal contracts with JHS, which run through May 2013, replace the current agreements' terms that would have expired in June 2011.

The renewal contracts offer IBC members access to covered services at the following Jefferson Health System acute-care hospitals: the Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, including its Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience division and Methodist Hospital division, and the Main Line Health hospitals (Bryn Mawr, Lankenau, Paoli, and Riddle Memorial). In addition, the agreements cover Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital, and other ancillary providers, including Jefferson's home health care and ambulance companies, as well as Main Line Health Care, Methodist Associates in Healthcare, and the Magee Physician Group.

"The fact that we renewed our contracts with Jefferson Health System eight months ahead of schedule is a measure of the great partnership we have," said Independence Blue Cross President and CEO Joseph A. Frick. "We are pleased the new agreements include our new pay for performance program, which demonstrates our mutual commitment to providing affordable, quality care to our members and their patients. As our nation continues to address health care, IBC and Jefferson Health System are doing our part to offer innovative solutions that raise quality and lower costs."

Said JHS President and CEO Joseph T. Sebastianelli: "Our new contract with Independence Blue Cross is based upon a shared commitment to improving the quality of care and delivering value to our patients and IBC's members. We look forward to implementing industry-driven health care reform in the Delaware Valley through our new IBC agreements."

IBC and JHS's hospitals and physicians have long demonstrated their strong commitment to quality. The health system has participated for many years in IBC's quality incentive payment program and in the Partnership for Patient Care—a regional hospital quality and patient safety initiative largely funded by IBC and designed to reduce health care-acquired infections, prevent bloodstream and surgical site infections, and reduce medication errors.

Along with more than 100 other primary care doctors in IBC's network, JHS's affiliated physicians are also participating in southeastern Pennsylvania's Chronic Care Collaborative, the largest pilot program of the Patient Centered Medical Home care model in the United States.

About Jefferson Health System

Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Jefferson Health System (JHS) is the region's largest health care system. Among other accolades, JHS hospitals have received national recognition by U.S. News & World Report's rankings of America's best hospitals, and many physicians affiliated with JHS hospitals are included in Philadelphia Magazine's annual list of the best local doctors.

About Independence Blue Cross

Independence Blue Cross is a leading health insurer in southeastern Pennsylvania. Nationwide, Independence Blue Cross and its affiliates provide coverage to nearly 3.3 million people. For more than 70 years, Independence Blue Cross has offered high-quality health care coverage tailored to meet the changing needs of members, employers, and health care professionals. Independence Blue Cross's HMO and PPO health care plans have consistently received the highest ratings from the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Independence Blue Cross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.  www.ibx.com

SOURCE Independence Blue Cross