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Traditional Medicare Benefit Information Soon to be Available Online to Doctors and Hospitals through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Web Portal
Traditional Medicare Benefit Information Soon to be Available Online to Doctors and Hospitals through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Web Portal
DETROIT, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning this summer,Michigan physicians
and hospitals will be able to go online to check eligibility and benefit
information for people with Traditional Medicare coverage. It's made possible
by Blue Cross Blue Shield ofMichigan's health care electronic data interchange
clearinghouse and Web portal, one of the largest in the nation.
Through BCBSM's single Web portal -- called web-DENIS -- doctors and
hospitals already have secure access to benefit and eligibility information for
individuals enrolled in BCBSM, Blue Care Network and Medicaid plans. The
addition of Traditional Medicare information is another giant leap forward.
"Benefit information on the vast majority of insured lives inMichigan now
will be available 24/7 to physicians and medical facilities, helping them
determine eligibility for health care benefits," said Mary A. Smith, BCBSM vice
president of health care delivery strategy. "So when these individuals enter a
hospital emergency room or most doctors' offices or medical facilities, the
information will be available to their care provider."
The launch of the expanded service follows a successful pilot of the
service started this past March by the Blues, and reinforces the company's
commitment to supporting a statewide initiative by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the
Michigan Legislature and other public and private organizations to make
Michigan a leader in health information exchange. The health information
exchange initiative seeks to improve the quality and efficiency of health care
delivery by minimizing redundant data collection, meeting national standards
for information exchange, encouraging patient-centered care and promoting
patient safety and quality.
"This launch is another step forward in our efforts to increase the scope
of patient eligibility and benefit information that can be found in one place
by doctors and hospitals," said Smith. "When we make it easier for medical
professionals and facilities to interact with health benefit information, they
can spend more time on caring for their patients."
"We are on a mission to strengthen and expand our electronic services to
simplify the administrative process for doctors and hospitals," said Joe
Hohner, BCBSM senior vice president and chief information officer. "Doing so
eases their administrative burden and reduces health care costs."
The BCBSM electronic data clearinghouse is expected to process 270 million
BCBSM, Medicare, Medicaid and other health insurance transactions in 2008,
including eligibility and claims information. Web-DENIS is expected to process
an additional 90 million inquiries or transactions.
Web-DENIS is used by more than 30,000Michigan physicians and other health
care professionals, allMichigan hospitals and medical facilities and medical
billers. The system is used by nine out of 10 physician offices in the state.
The move to include eligibility and benefit information for Traditional
Medicare beneficiaries is another in a series of enhancements BCBSM has enacted
over time to expand online access features for medical professionals and
facilities. For example, in a past joint effort with the Michigan Department of
Community Health, BCBSM provided physicians and hospitals with statewide access
to Medicaid eligibility and benefit information online through web-DENIS. As a
result of that effort, web-DENIS has grown over the past three years to handle
9.5 million Medicaid-related transactions annually.
Blue Cross Blue Shield ofMichigan, a nonprofit organization, provides and
administers health benefits to more than 4.6 million members residing in
Michigan in addition to members ofMichigan-headquartered groups who reside
outside the state. The company offers a broad variety of plans including:
Traditional Blue Cross Blue Shield; Blue Preferred, Community Blue and Healthy
Blue Incentives PPOs; Blue Care Network HMO; BCN Healthy Blue Living; Flexible
Blue plans compatible with health savings accounts; Medicare Advantage; Part D
Prescription Drug plans, and MyBlue products in the under-age-65 individual
market. Blue Cross Blue Shield ofMichigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit
corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Association.
SOURCE Blue Cross Blue Shield ofMichigan
Copyright © 2008, PRNewswire
Copyright © 2008, NewsBlaze,
Daily NewsTags: Tags: Healthcare, Insurance, Internet, Computers and Electronics, Health, High Tech, michigan
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