Cultural, Linguistic and Quality Outreach Programs Impact Medi-Cal and Healthy Families Program Members.

Business Editors & Health Writers

CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--March 16, 2001

Retention, Growth and Recent Awards Reflect Health Plan's

Achievements in These Areas

Blue Cross of California today announced that statewide customer satisfaction, retention and growth in its Medi-Cal and Healthy Families Program membership are positively affected by its cultural, linguistic and quality outreach programs that have been put into practice over the last three years.

Recognizing the special needs and requirements of this population, Blue Cross' state-sponsored programs division aggressively implemented these specific types of programs and services to better meet the needs of its ethnically diverse, and mostly non-English-speaking members.

With 75 percent of the plan's total state-sponsored programs enrollment belonging to one of 16 different ethnic groups who speak one of 25 different languages, Blue Cross' cultural, linguistic and outreach programs have helped to double its Medi-Cal enrollment within the past three years.

Similarly, its Healthy Families Program membership has also doubled in just more than one year, making Blue Cross of California the largest health plan provider of state-sponsored programs in California.

Other findings associated with these Blue Cross programs include an increase in improved utilization of health-care services and a voluntary drop-out rate in Medi-Cal membership that is consistently less than one half of one percent.

Additionally, a 1999 Consumer Assessment of Health Plans survey soliciting members' experiences in communicating with their doctors found that 89 percent of Blue Cross' state-sponsored program members reported no difficulty in talking to their doctor. These physicians were able to communicate in the members' language of choice or through other means of interpretation.

Community-based outreach in the form of Community Resource Centers with multilingual and multicultural outreach specialists also help Blue Cross' Medi-Cal and Healthy Families Program members bridge the gap to better care, and more appropriate utilization of health-care services.

Stocked with appropriately translated program materials that are easy to understand, and staffed with language-appropriate interpreters as key points of contact, these Community Resource Centers also provide telecommunications devices for deaf members.

Blue Cross has nine of these centers located throughout the state (in San Diego, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland) with plans to open additional centers in Sacramento and Visalia in the next few months.

"Understanding the impact that cultural differences have in delivering health care to this particular member population is essential in order to improve access to quality health care," said John Monahan, general manager of Blue Cross' state-sponsored programs.

"Success and recognition have come as a direct result of responding to our members' unique needs with innovative solutions like our cultural and linguistic programs, preventive health services, well child and prenatal care programs," Monahan added. "And, industry awards serve as further confirmation that our efforts and programs have been successful -- surpassing not only the needs and expectations of our members, but also exceeding the expectations set by our industry."

In addition to member satisfaction, retention and growth, Blue Cross has also been recognized through other industry associations as a plan that excels at meetings its members' needs. Blue Cross' state-sponsored programs received two awards from the California Department of Health Services (DHS) for year 2000 performance levels in Health Employer Data Information Set (HEDIS) Quality of Care Studies for its Medi-Cal health plan.

HEDIS information tracks health plans' performance in regard to specific preventive and diagnostic services such as breast cancer screening, childhood immunizations, prostate screening and pap smears.

The only health plan in California to win two awards, Blue Cross of California was awarded a Gold Certificate for Commendable Performance on one of the HEDIS accountability sets done for its Stanislaus Local Initiative contract and a Silver Certificate for its Sacramento Geographic Managed Care Contract. These awards were in addition to another California DHS award received earlier in 2000 for Internal Quality Improvement Projects.

In the fourth quarter of 2000, Blue Cross was also recognized for its state-sponsored programs, for the second year in a row, by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association -- this time for Best Practices in Consumer Satisfaction for its cultural and linguistic programs.

A leading provider of health-care coverage for more than 60 years, Blue Cross has the proven track record and quality programs to effectively meet the needs of California's state-sponsored programs recipients.

Blue Cross currently offers Medi-Cal Managed Care programs in 13 California counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Stanislaus and Tulare counties), and also offers the Healthy Families Program in all 58 California counties.

Blue Cross of California, along with its California affiliates, with 5.5 million medical members in the state, is an operating subsidiary of WellPoint Health Networks Inc., one of the nation's largest publicly traded health-care companies. WellPoint serves the health-care needs of more than 9.7 million medical and more than 40 million specialty members nationally.

WellPoint offers a broad spectrum of quality network-based health products including open access PPO, POS and hybrid products, HMO and specialty products. Specialty products include pharmacy benefit management, dental, utilization management, vision, mental health, life and disability insurance, long-term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, COBRA administration and Medicare supplements.