BCBSRI celebrates its 2015 successes

Rainy weather didn’t dampen BlueAngel volunteers’ high spirits: This group volunteered at the Groden Center during last year’s Blue across Rhode Island, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island’s annual day of community service. / RIVERZEDGE ARTS
Rainy weather didn’t dampen BlueAngel volunteers’ high spirits: This group volunteered at the Groden Center during last year’s Blue across Rhode Island, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island’s annual day of community service. / RIVERZEDGE ARTS

PROVIDENCE – Community-based nonprofit organizations whose missions align with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island’s mission to improve the health of Ocean State residents may apply to participate in BCBSRI’s fifth annual statewide day of community service, Blue across Rhode Island. One of the state’s largest single-company volunteer days, Blue across Rhode Island provides volunteer and monetary support to selected nonprofit organizations. Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. on May 11 for this year’s Blue across Rhode Island, on Friday, Sept. 23. Organizations may learn more and apply online at www.cybergrants.com/BCBSRI/BARI.

Since Blue across Rhode Island’s inception five years ago, BCBSRI associates have provided more than 15,000 volunteer hours to nonprofit organizations around the state. In addition to BlueAngel volunteers, BCBSRI also provides each participating organization with a $5,000 grant to support expenses incurred for the volunteer project. Blue across Rhode Island is a core component of BCBSRI’s nationally recognized employee volunteer program. According to the company, at its fourth annual Blue across Rhode Island, 680 BCBSRI employees volunteered a total of 3,970 hours to support 12 different organizations, impacting 13,734 Rhode Islanders, nearly half of whom were children.

“Giving back to the communities in which [we] live and work is a core priority for Blue Cross year-round,” Carolyn Belisle, BCBSRI’s managing director of community relations, said in a statement. “Through collaboration with our great community partners, our team makes real impact, finishing projects during Blue across Rhode Island that organizations say otherwise would have taken the full year! The fifth anniversary of Blue across Rhode Island is more than just a day of service for our company, it is representative of the values we strive every day to uphold.”

Additionally, the company’s Blue Angel Community Investment Program supports nonprofit organizations and programs addressing Rhode Island’s most critical health issues, including childhood obesity, health literacy and quality care for the uninsured. According to the company’s 2015 Community Investment Report, grants totaling $319,00 were awarded last year to nine nonprofit organizations, including Clinica Esperanza/Hope Clinic, Partnership for Providence Parks, Newport County YMCA and Crossroads Rhode Island, affecting 13,074 children and their family members.

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“Because of BCBSRI’s investment in our CHEER Clinic, we were able to provide health care services that saved low-income uninsured families more than $250,000,” Dr. Anne S. De Groot, executive director of Clinica Esperanza/Hope Clinic, said in BCBSRI’s Community Investment Report.

In an effort to provide free and low-cost health care services to some of the 50,000 Rhode Islanders still lacking adequate health insurance, BCBSRI awarded grants to agencies that provide free basic and specialty medical care, lab work, wellness programs, dental services and prescription assistance. A friendly Thanksgiving food drive competition between BCBSRI and Amica was a win-win for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, which received 21,000 donated food items from the drive. The collective impact of grant programs, volunteer efforts and in-kind donations support more than 190 local nonprofit organizations, the company reported.

In separate news, the company’s 2015 annual report highlighted new customer initiatives, expanded partnerships with providers and local community organizations and innovative contracting models, all making 2015 a year of continued health care transformation and financial strength for the company.

The company reported that it met key goals in 2015 of improving the customer experience, creating a more collaborative health care environment and improved patient experience that produced cost savings. Those efforts, combined with a continued focus on low administrative costs, resulted in a $21.6 million gain on operations and a $29.7 million addition to reserves.

“We continue to believe that the only avenue to a sustainable, affordable and simple health care system for our state is through collaboration – among providers of health care, state leadership, customers and regulators,” BCBSRI President and CEO Peter Andruszkiewicz said in the opening of the online annual report. “Simply put, it takes a team.”

Throughout last year, BCBSRI introduced several initiatives to further enhance service and simplify the health care experience for customers, including a new retail store location and innovative offerings to meet customers’ active lifestyles; seven-day-a-week customer service, a 24/7 nurse Care Line, HouseCall by Blue appointments for members with complex medical needs, enhanced online shopping capabilities and a novel collaboration with Care New England’s Women & Infants Hospital to offer a free in-home doula visit.

Team-based provider partnerships committed to deliver the triple aim of improving population health, patient experience and cost of care. BCBSRI’s five-year study of patient-centered medical homes showed improved health outcomes compared to standard primary care providers while saving $30 million in health care costs. BCBSRI also realized $43 million in health care cost avoidance by integrating pharmacists into primary care offices through the Medication Therapy Management Program.

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