News.......
But not the type I wanted to read this morning... Better get on that boat guys and get back to reality. Wellpoint has evidently decided to invest in some older technology. Why would they do that? Could it be that many of the rumors the are posted on the boards are true? I saw this last night. It might explain the Medix retraction of its news release several weeks ago.
Blue Cross of California Enhances Information-Referral System; System Expansion Improves Response Time to Provider Inquiries
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--March 8, 1999--Blue Cross of California, the California subsidiary of WellPoint Health Networks Inc., one of the nation's largest publicly traded managed-care companies, has expanded its inquiry-response system to provide greater and more immediate responses to a variety of provider inquiries.
The enhancements made to the Blue Cross of California Fax Back system, a component of the company's interactive voice response system, give providers immediate access to eligibility and benefits information, which they can receive in written format through their internal facsimile machines.
The Fax Back system, which is part of the Blue Cross Provider Access program that is designed to establish and improve electronic connectivity and communication for the provider community, now gives providers an opportunity to verify more patient data in a single phone call.
Providers currently can request up to 50 HMO and/or PPO patient inquiries and receive the information within moments through available facsimile machines. To ensure that providers receive the requested data as quickly as possible, the system has been designed to redial a provider's fax number automatically up to six times to deliver the information.
"We enhanced our voice response system to improve communication time and effort and bring greater efficiency to our provider's administration," said Ron Williams, Blue Cross of California president. "Our goal is to continue to develop better efficiencies for our provider community and our members."
"Our primary consideration is to create systems that provide maximum functionality with limited navigation," added Barbara Lynch, Blue Cross vice president of provider services. "Our Fax Back system has been well received by the provider community. We continue to focus on expanding our technology to give our provider community more comprehensive member information quickly and efficiently."
Blue Cross of California, with nearly 4.7 million medical members, is the California operating subsidiary of WellPoint Health Networks, one of the nation's largest publicly traded managed-care companies. WellPoint serves the health-care needs of more than 6.9 million medical and more than 24.7 million specialty members nationally.
WellPoint offers a broad spectrum of quality, network-based products including HMO, PPO, POS and specialty managed-care products. Specialty products include pharmacy benefit management, dental, utilization management, vision, mental health, life and disability insurance, flexible spending accounts, COBRA administration and Medicare supplements. |
