Taking the “neighborly” approach to health care

By Scott Kreiling, President, Regence BlueShield of Idaho
February 27, 2018
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At the state and federal level, the buzz surrounding health care remains intense. Policymakers are discussing some novel approaches to the challenge of expanding individuals’ access, via new insurance models, to physicians, clinics, and hospitals. While greater access is important, we at Regence think it’s equally important to focus on the bottom-line cost and quality of care – a perspective shared by physician groups across Idaho.

That’s why we worked together to create the Regence Medical Neighborhood – the only statewide accountable health network in Idaho. The Regence Medical Neighborhood begins with easy, community-based access to any of seven primary care medical groups committed to high-quality care at an overall lower cost. These participating physician groups seek to improve quality by reducing unnecessary care and have higher quality measures on the management of chronic conditions, prevention of readmissions and medication monitoring. For both individuals and employers, the better care and cost management achieved by this network model results in lower premiums.

Unlike so much of the current conversation that centers on less complete coverage for less money, the Regence Medical Neighborhood is all about more quality from a more geographically expansive network of physician groups, with continued access to all the same specialists and hospitals in the Regence statewide PPO network, for less money out of our members’ pockets.

We at Regence and the nearly 600 primary care physicians from all quarters of Idaho who are working hand-in-hand with us believe it’s the neighborly thing for us to do.

Learn more about Regence Medical Neighborhood at regence.com/neighborhood.

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