Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama Providing Greater Access to Quality Healthcare for Alabamians through Telemedicine Services

bcbs.com – December 14, 2015 – Birmingham, AL – To provide greater access to quality healthcare in rural communities, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama is proud to announce a statewide initiative to pay providers for telemedicine services beginning December 1, 2015.  Due to a lack of sub-specialist physicians in certain rural communities, there are often gaps in specialty medical care when compared to more urban communities.

This initiative is designed to help fill those gaps for Alabamians and provide care for conditions in the following categories:

Cardiologic conditions
Behavioral health
Dermatologic conditions
Infectious disease
Neurologic diseases, including stroke

“We are proud to support telemedicine because we want our members to have enhanced access to quality healthcare wherever they are in Alabama. With the innovative technology available today, we are now able to do just that,” said Doug McIntyre, Vice President of Network Operations, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.

“We are proud and thankful that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama is a leading champion of telehealth in Alabama. By removing barriers of time, distance, and provider scarcities, telehealth can deliver important medical services where they are needed most; in remote, rural and medically underserved urban communities,” said Rena Brewer, RN, MA, SouthEastern Telehealth Resource Center.

Due to advanced technology and high resolution video capabilities now available, telemedicine provides quality results and offers another option for care in addition to seeing a doctor in person. Telemedicine successfully exchanges medical information about a patient from one originating site to another distant site via two-way telecommunications systems that are real-time, interactive, secure and HIPAA compliant.

This is just one part of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama’s statewide comprehensive initiative, “Circle of Care” Primary Care Select Program, a long-term investment to help improve access to healthcare services in Alabama. This program sets a new standard of support and collaboration between Blue Cross, our members and their primary care physicians.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama has insured Alabamians for nearly 80 years.  Blue Cross offers coverage plans to corporations, individuals and the senior market. For more information about Blue Cross, visit AlabamaBlue.com. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and 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 healthcare coverage for nearly 105 million members – one-in-three Americans.  For more information on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and its member companies, please visit bcbs.com. We encourage you to connect with us on Facebook, check out our videos on YouTube, follow us on Twitter and check out The BCBS Blog, for up-to-date information about BCBSA.

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