Blue Distinction® Designation

Highmark  Blue Shield (Highmark) has named Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest as a Blue Distinction Centerfor Complex and Rare Cancers, focusing on complex inpatient and surgical care.

Blue Distinction® is a designation awarded by Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield companies to medical facilities that have demonstrated expertise in delivering quality healthcare. Building on the successful results of earlier programs focused on cardiac care, bariatric surgery and transplants, the program was recently expanded to include the designation of 85 Blue Distinction Centers for Complex and Rare Cancers.

"Our mission is to reduce the burden that cancer places on patients and their families," says Keith Weinhold, vice president of cancer services for Lehigh Valley Health Network. "This notable distinction exemplifies our dedication to that mission and to the pursuit of excellent cancer care."

With plans to expand Blue Distinction into more common forms of cancer in the future, this initial phase assesses facilities on evaluation, treatment planning, complex inpatient care and major surgical treatments; all delivered by teams with distinguished expertise and subspecialty training for complex and rare cancers. Lehigh Valley's designation focuses on the following cancers:

• pancreatic cancer
• gastric cancer
• rectal cancer
• bladder cancer
• brain cancer - primary
• soft tissue sarcomas
• thyroid cancer - medullary or anaplastic

The evidence-based selection criteria used to evaluate facilities were developed in strategic collaboration with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network* (NCCN) and with input from a panel of expert clinicians. To be designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Complex and Rare Cancers, Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest met the following selection criteria, among others posted at http://www.bcbs.com/:

• exceeds volume threshold for annual surgical cases treated
• utilization of multidisciplinary team input for treatment planning, including sub-specialty trained teams
• participation in ongoing quality management and improvement programs for cancer care
• commitment to using clinical data registries and participating in relevant clinical research

"This program supports Highmark's consumerism approach to give members a greater hand in their health by providing tools to help members make informed choices about their health care," said Carey Vinson, M.D., vice president for quality and performance management at Highmark.

"The Blue Distinction Centers designation offers members reliable quality-based information pertaining to Blue network-participating facilities when selecting a provider," he said. "For Highmark members, this designation is significant because these are very rare cancers, and this expertise is not what is offered in any general cancer care facility," said Vinson. "It is highly specialized."

Highmark recognizes that the majority of patients' multidisciplinary treatment may be best accomplished by integrating the expertise available in a Blue Distinction Center with locally available treatment resources, especially for outpatient chemotherapy and radiotherapy, based on individual circumstances and patient preference. Optimal support of a patient's comprehensive cancer care needs may be achieved by coordination of care between the patient and their family, local physicians, the Blue Distinction Center and Highmark.

For more information about complex and rare cancer care at Lehigh Valley Health Network, call 610-402-CARE or visit us at lvh.com.  

  * This organization has provided information and input, but does not formally endorse the Blue Distinction Centers program.

About Highmark Blue Shield

Highmark Blue Shield is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. For more information about Highmark Blue Shield, visit www.highmark.com.

This page last updated 1/28/10 10:43 AM