Blue Cross to add Via Christi as in-network provider - Triangle Business Journal:

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The five-year agreement takes effect Jan. 1. It mean more than 110,000 Blue Croszs Blue Shield of Kansas members in Sedgwick County will be covered for services atVia Christi. Add in the other membersz who get their coverager from Blue Cross outside of Kansae and that number balloons to more than says Graham Bailey vice president of corporate communicationsz atBlue Cross. “We’re trying to meet the needw ofour members,” Baileh says. “You’re here to serve a clientele, and one of the thingws that is becoming more apparentr is peoplewant choice. This is a watershes event.
” With the agreement, Blue Crosas will send payments directly to Via Christiu instead of reimbursing members who previously were responsible for payingh themedical center. The agreement also includez members who havethe insurer’d Plan 65-Select Medicare supplement product. The deal expands a limitedr partnership between Blue Cross Blue Shielsd andVia Christi, where the two have workedd together under a special services agreement that covere such treatments as burns, transplants and inpatient psychiatric Michalene Maringer, president and CEO of the Via Christ Wichita Health Network, says the partnershi p offers additional coverage options for Via Christi patients.
“ I think it is just a maturation ofthe market,” she says of the “It speaks volumes for the qualityy of care that Via Christi has in the Both sides say the deal was predicatedd by increasing demand from patronz for choice. “We’ve heard from so many families whosd coverage is through Blue Cross that they wished they coulf come to us for all of their hospita care rather than for just those servicez covered under the limited service Maringer says.
“Now, patients will have a Meanwhile, remains Blue Cross’ only local in-networo hospital at least through the end of the Bailey says Blue Cross is workingg with Wesley to extend its agreementf asan in-network provider. If that deal, which coulcd be finalized this fall, is reached Blue Crosss would havetwo in-network hospitalx in Wichita. “We are reaching out to othetr facilities looking for opportunities to jointhe (Bluw Cross) network,” Bailey says. Thursday’s announcement marked the second time this year a major healtyh insurance provider added a Wichitas hospital asan in-network provider.
Preferred Health Systems earlier this year added Galichiq Heart Hospital asa provider.