Premera & Washington State Hospital Association Announce Premera Investment in Hospital Patient Safety.

WSHA & Premera Begin New Partnership to Improve Hospital Quality

SEATTLE & MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, Wash. -- At today's Hospital Trustee and CEO Patient Safety Summit, Premera Blue Cross and the Washington State Hospital Association announced a powerful new partnership to improve patient safety for hospital patients. Premera pledged to support the leadership efforts of WSHA and Washington state hospitals as they work to accelerate the adoption of best practices to reduce medical errors.

As a part of that effort, Premera announced its grant of $250,000 to support the hospital association's patient safety initiative.

The Washington State Hospital Association's patient safety program is focused on helping hospitals create evidence-based systems to ensure all patients get the right care at the right time, with zero errors that affect a patient's health. Hospitals are working on implementing rapid response teams to assist patients at the first sign of decline; increasing hand hygiene to reduce the spread of infection; ensuring that patients receive the medications they need in the right dosage at the right time; and are committed to reporting hospital-specific quality information at www.wahospitalquality.org.

This grant is consistent with Premera's programs to promote evidence-based medicine and best practices. Premera is recognized for promoting health-care quality through a five-year collaborative initiative with physicians called the Premera Quality Score Card. Premera has also been a supporter of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's "5 Million Lives" campaign at the national level to reduce the incidence of medical harm in the hospital setting.

As part of the commitment to work together, Brian Ancell, Executive Vice President for Healthcare Services and Strategic Development of Premera, will join the hospital association's Patient Safety Committee. "I am delighted to be a part of this important work, both through our funding and our expertise. The hospital association's work is improving the safety and quality of hospital care for all patients in the state, a goal we very much share," said Ancell.

"Washington hospitals' strong focus on patient safety dovetails perfectly with Premera's interests. We are very grateful for Premera's investments in the future of patient safety in Washington State's hospitals," said Leo Greenawalt, president of the Washington State Hospital Association.

Both organizations hope to continue the partnership into the future.

About Premera Blue Cross

Our mission is to provide peace of mind to our members about their health-care coverage. We provide health care coverage and related services to more than 1.3 million people. Premera Blue Cross has operated in Washington since 1933, and Alaska since 1952. Premera Blue Cross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Premera Blue Cross is a member of a family of companies based in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, that provide health, life, vision, dental, and long-term care insurance, and other related services. In the J. D. Power and Associates 2007 National Health Insurance Plan Satisfaction Study(SM), Premera Blue Cross achieved the "highest member satisfaction with commercial health plans" (regional and national companies) serving the western U.S. 2007 is the inaugural year for this study.

About the Washington State Hospital Association

The Washington State Hospital Association is the trade association of the 97 community hospitals in Washington State. The association takes a major leadership role in issues that affect delivery, quality, accessibility, affordability and continuity of health care. It works to improve the health status of the residents of Washington State. It also engages in public policy advocacy with legislators and regulators on behalf of the hospitals of Washington State.