COLUMBIA, S.C., July 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and BlueChoice^® HealthPlan of South Carolina will use Avalon Healthcare Solutions to administer a comprehensive suite of laboratory benefits management services, promoting continued access to high quality health care for members.

Avalon (www.Avalonhcs.com), headquartered in Tampa, Florida, is a clinically-driven company using evidence-based medicine to develop and deploy appropriate policies and protocols in the high-volume, dynamic and complex lab environment. The company manages the appropriate use of more than 4,000 current lab tests and researches new tests to determine efficacy and impact on patient care.

"We're bringing on Avalon to tackle an increasingly numerous and complex lab testing landscape," said BlueCross Division President Jim Deyling. "Avalon's proprietary technology and services deliver efficient management of high-volume lab activity. This is critical to giving our members access to medically appropriate testing on a consistent basis."

Lab tests account for more than any other health care procedure performed in the United States, with more than 8 billion lab tests performed each year. More than 7 million lab services were provided to BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and BlueChoice^® members in 2014. Through the Avalon program, members and their physicians will immediately gain access to an expanded network of independent specialty laboratory providers. BlueCross clients in South Carolina will further benefit from Avalon's evidenced-based approach to supporting access to appropriate laboratory services.

This is part of BlueCross' efforts to provide leadership in South Carolina in meeting the national Triple Aim of better care for individuals, better overall population health and lower costs of care.

"Both South Carolina BlueCross and BlueChoice Health Plan have a long history of innovation to ensure access to quality care for their members," said Dr. Bill Kerr, Avalon's chief executive officer. "We're confident that our partnership will improve laboratory benefits delivery, ultimately improving quality, expanding access and reducing costs for these patients."

Headquartered in Columbia, and operating in South Carolina for more than 65 years, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The only South Carolina-owned and operated health insurance carrier, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina comprises more than 20 companies involved in health insurance services, U.S. DoD health program and Medicare contracts, other insurance and employee benefits services and a philanthropic foundation that funds programs to improve health care and access to health care for South Carolinians.

Also headquartered in Columbia, BlueChoice HealthPlan of South Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. BlueChoice holds a "Commendable" accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its commercial business, as well as an NCQA "New Health Plan Accreditation" for its Medicaid business.

Avalon is an independent company that will administer laboratory benefits management services on behalf of BlueCross and BlueChoice.

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SOURCE Avalon Healthcare Solutions

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