Anthem Blue Cross has announced that its industry-leading transparency initiative will be available to members in the following counties in the state of California: Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Sacramento/Placer and Yolo counties, San Diego, Imperial County, Orange County, San Joaquin/Valley, North Coast/North state, South Bay/South Coast, San Bernardino and Riverside.

These 7.3 million new members join about 1 million members in new york and the Bay Area in having access, since the program was launched in 2008. Anthem Care Comparison is an online instrument that provides information about costs of 40 specific medical procedures performed at local area hospitals, outpatient surgery centers and freestanding radiology facilities. Members can also find cost and quality information on over 160 inpatient procedures. Currently, about 15.3 million members nationwide can go online to visit the transparency instrument.

In addition, the cost information is facility specific, so members can compare the differences in cost among hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and/or free standing imaging centers, and get information on how frequently facilities perform each procedure. All of these factors combined can assist the member in carefully assessing the care they seek.

Anthem Care Comparison is a primary feature of the company’s 360 degree Health(R) program, six of the most robust benefits programs in the health benefits industry to comprehensively address preventive care, health improvement and care coordination. It provides health information collected from physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals to members through a single point of contact. It integrates all care management programs and tools in to a centralized, consumer-friendly resource that assists members in navigating the health care process, using their health benefits and providing information to help them access comprehensive and appropriate care. 360 degree Health helps members access a wide range of services including online wellness and lifestyle programs, discounts on health-related products and alternative medicine therapies, and 24-hour access to health care professionals who can provide health information.

Members in new york also have access to the Zagat Health Survey instrument, an online survey instrument that will permit consumers to share their physician experiences with others throughout the state.

Anthem’s parent company is taking the Care Comparison instrument to unaffiliated Blue Plan members nationwide. Last December, it announced designs to collaboratively partner with six Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield designs across the country to provide access to this consumer-friendly health care cost information. Through similar partnerships, the company is heading toward establishing the Care Comparison instrument as a national Blue standard.

Related Health News:

1. Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Join to Enhance Access and Greater Choice in Northern Nevada RENO, Nev., March 31 /PRNewswire/ — Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Nevada announced today that Anthem’s 100,000...
2. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky Statement on Senate Health Care Reform Bill Saturday, Senator Reid released his Manager’s amendment to the health care reform legislation currently being discussed in the U.S. Senate. One provision in the amendment...
3. Top Blue Cross and Blue Shield-Branded Managed Care Organizations Lost More Than One Million Members in the First Half of 2008 HealthLeaders-InterStudy’s Managed Market Surveyor-Rx Evaluates How Medical and Pharmacy Lives are Covered at National, State and MSA Levels NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 11 /PRNewswire/ — HealthLeaders-InterStudy,...
4. BlueCross Makes Coverage Available for South Carolina Graduates Lacking Health Insurance According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers will hire twenty two percent fewer college graduates in 2009 than they did...
5. Blue Shield of California CEO to Speak at World Health Care Congress SAN FRANCISCO, April 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — As all eyes turn to the health reform debate in Washington, Bruce Bodaken – the chairman and CEO of...