Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts first to offer Internet-based health care solutions; First Health Services company nationwide to implement Healtheon's on-line access to health plan and health care information.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 25, 1996--Blue Cross and Blue Shields of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) announced today it will be the first company in the nation to provide on-line health care information and enrollment services to its members using an Internet-based system created by Healtheon, a privately held corporation founded by Jim Clark, chairman of Netscape Communications.

The Healtheon suite of on-line health care information services streamlines the benefits management process by making health care information more accessible and by simplifying communication among health plans, employers and their employees. Employees can locate information about benefits coverage and services and manage their own benefits on-line, at their desktop or from their homes, at their convenience, eliminating excess paperwork from the administrative process.

Healtheon developed its first products and services for the Massachusetts market in partnership with BCBSMA. BCBSMA will test the service with select BCBSMA accounts, including employees at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, beginning in October.

BCBSMA currently has the largest electronic enrollment of any health services company in the nation. Using BCBSMA's AccountLink technology, employers are connected directly to BCBSMA, allowing more than 70 percent of all enrollment transactions to be received electronically. The Healtheon service will now extend this connectivity directly to the employee, at work and at home.

"Blue Cross and Blue Shield is committed to adding value to its services, while reducing health care costs over the long term," said William C. Van Faasen, president and CEO of BCBSMA. "The technology solutions we have already implemented in our provider and account markets have demonstrated that we can streamline the administrative processes. The Healtheon service is the next step towards lowering the cost of health plan coverage and improving customer service. Healtheon will empower consumers to manage their personal health benefits data, while accessing information needed to make educated benefit choices."

According to Van Faasen, it was the BCBSMA New Health Ventures division's commitment to using health information technologies to connect BCBSMA directly to its members, providers, businesses and customers that first attracted the attention of Healtheon. Currently more than 1,400 businesses in Massachusetts are electronically accessing and managing their companies' health plan enrollment process using BCBSMA's AccountLink technology. BCBSMA recognized the power of the Internet and the opportunity it provided to bring health care and enrollment information to the desktop.

"Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts is recognized for its technology leadership and innovation in improving health care. It is this reputation that made them a natural choice for helping us develop and test our suite of on-line service," said Jim Clark, chairman of Healtheon. "Direct employee access to benefit enrollment and health care information is a viable technology solution to the complexities of benefits administration. Healtheon will empower users to manage their own benefits and health care information to their best advantage. This is Healtheon's first step toward significantly improving the business of health care for all health plans and their members."

Designed to work on any personal computer with access to the Internet or a company's intranet, Healtheon provides employees, employers and health plans with access to the information needed to administer and manage health care and other employment benefits options. Healtheon will provide employees with comprehensive benefit information and, in addition, support enrollment and benefit selection. Simultaneously, employers will receive their employees' enrollment and other data directly into their human resources and payroll systems, while benefit providers subscribing to Healtheon's services will receive timely and accurate enrollment data directly from the employee.

For example, previously, if an employee needed to add a dependent to their health benefits plan, they would fill out a form and submit it to the human resource manager. The HR manager would submit the notification of the additional member to BCBSMA. After a few days, the employee would receive confirmation of the change. With Healtheon's on-line benefits enrollment and information system, the employee can log on to their computer directly at the desktop, enter their secure password and add the dependent to their health benefits plan. Both BCBSMA and the employer will be notified of the change immediately, eliminating paperwork and processing delays.

BCBSMA is committed to offering a secure environment to their customers. Healtheon has put significant effort toward ensuring the highest levels of security for its services. Healtheon has adopted proven security methodologies, along with state-of-the-art, industrial-strength platform technology. As a result, Healtheon participants at all levels will be confident of the privacy and integrity of information gathered and exchanged.

"For the past three years, BCBSMA has strategically invested in developing health care technology to put information in the hands of our customers -- providers, businesses, and health plan members," said Russell J. Ricci M.D., president of BCBSMA's New Health Ventures division. Beginning with a comprehensive site on the World Wide Web, to developing the nation's first health care ATM, the Health Navigator, to connecting 7,000 physicians directly to pharmacies, this partnership with Healtheon underscores our commitment, understanding and appreciation of the change technology is bringing to the delivery of health care services."

BCBSMA is the region's largest health services company, providing a full range of managed care and traditional benefits, products and services to businesses and individual customers, to health care providers and to federal, state and local governments. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an independent license of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Healtheon develops and markets Internet-based on-line health care and benefits information and services. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company is dedicated to harnessing the Internet and other leading-edge technologies to provide industry-specific business solutions. Healtheon was founded in 1996 by Jim Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics and Netscape Communications; David Schnell M.D., founding president and CEO; and Pavan Nigam, vice president of engineering. The Healtheon Web site is located at www.healtheon.com.

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