MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper has been recognized with a Blue Distinction® Centers for Cancer Care designation as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. By combining nationally consistent quality criteria with locally effective value-based programs, Blue Distinction Centers for Cancer Care deliver maximum value to members battling cancer by aligning health care payments with improved health outcomes. The designation is available for all cancer types and various care settings, including physician groups, cancer centers, hospitals and accountable care organizations (ACOs).
MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, a clinical partnership between MD Anderson Cancer Center and Cooper University Health Care, received this designation by incorporating patient-centered and data-driven practices to better coordinate cancer care and improve quality and safety, under a value based payment model. Blue Distinction Centers for Cancer Care are reimbursed based on how they perform against both quality and cost outcome targets in order to receive incentives and rewards for better health outcomes – rather than traditional fee-for-service. Care delivery transformation to improve quality and affordability is most successful when accompanied by transformation to a value based payment model.
“Our goal is to be the leading cancer center in the South Jersey region and provide patients with the most advanced, coordinated, and efficient care, and this Blue Distinction designation demonstrates we are succeeding,” said Adrienne Kirby, Executive Chairman and CEO of Cooper University Health Care. “We appreciate this recognition from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and their cooperation and collaboration in supporting our effort to deliver the best cancer care possible to their members.”
“Cancer patients are unique, and so is the care that they receive,” said Jennifer Atkins, vice president of network solutions for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. “Cancer patients often receive different kinds of specialized care in multiple settings with perhaps surgery at a distant medical center but chemotherapy at a local hospital. Medical professionals and facilities designated as Blue Distinction Centers for Cancer Care provide coordinated patient care and communication under a value based payment model.”
“Our goal is to obtain the best clinical outcomes for our cancer patients through a multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach using evidence-based protocols and we are delighted that our efforts are being recognized,” added Anthony Mazzarelli, MD, JD, MBE Co-President of Cooper University Health Care.
Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality specialty care in the areas of bariatric surgery, cancer care, cardiac care, knee and hip replacements, maternity care, spine surgery and transplants while encouraging health care professionals to improve the care they deliver.
“The Blue Distinction designation underscores for our patients that MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper is in the forefront of developing new models of coordinated cancer care to provide them with the most advanced treatments,” said Kevin O’Dowd, JD, Co-President of Cooper University Health Care.
For more information about the program and for a complete list of designated doctors and medical facilities, please visit www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.
About Cooper University Health Care
Cooper University Health Care is the leading academic health system in South Jersey. Cooper includes South Jersey’s only Level I trauma center (Cooper University Hospital), a leading cancer center (MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper), the only Level II pediatric trauma center in the Delaware Valley (Children’s Regional Hospital), one of the largest physicians group in the region, four urgent care centers, and more than 100 outpatient offices throughout South Jersey and Pennsylvania.Cooper has been carrying out its mission “to serve, to heal, to educate” since 1887.
About Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s oldest and largest health insurer is a tax-paying, not-for-profit health service corporation, providing a wide array of medical, dental, and prescription insurance products and services serving 3.8 million members. Horizon BCBSNJ is leading the transformation of health care in New Jersey by working with doctors and hospitals to deliver innovative, patient-centered programs that reward the quality, not quantity, of care patients receive. Learn more at www.HorizonBlue.com. Horizon BCBSNJ is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
About Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 36 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide health care coverage for one in three Americans. BCBSA provides health care insights through The Health of America Report series and the national BCBS Health Indexsm. For more information on BCBSA and its member companies, please visit BCBS.com. We also encourage you to connect with us on Facebook, check out our videos on YouTube, follow us on Twitter and check out our blog.
About Blue Distinction Centers
Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures for patient safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community. A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for providers located in its own service area; for details, contact your Local Blue Plan. Blue Distinction Centers+ (BDC+) also met cost measures that address consumers’ need for affordable healthcare. Each provider’s cost of care is evaluated using data from its Local Blue Plan. Providers in CA, ID, NY, PA, and WA may lie in two Local Blue Plans’ areas, resulting in two evaluations for cost of care; and their own Local Blue Plans decide whether one or both cost of care evaluation(s) must meet BDC+ national criteria. National criteria for BDC and BDC+ are displayed on www.bcbs.com. Individual outcomes may vary. For details on a provider’s in-network status or your own policy’s coverage, contact your Local Blue Plan and ask your provider before making an appointment. Neither Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for non-covered charges or other losses or damages resulting from Blue Distinction or other provider finder information or care received from Blue Distinction or other providers.
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Wendy A. Marano
Public Relations Manager
marano-wendy@cooperhealth.edu
856.382.6463