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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Launches
“Patient-Centered Medical Home” Pilot Programs in Chicago

Pronger Smith Medical Care Steps Up


CHICAGO– Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) today announced the first of several  recently launched patient-centered medical home pilots with Pronger Smith Medical Care. 
A patient-centered “medical home” is a program in which primary care physicians and their staffs monitor and coordinate most aspects of their patients’ primary, specialty and other medical care to enhance it and to control costs. 

More than 20,000 BCBSIL members are in the pilot programs -- the first of their kind in Illinois involving multi-site medical practices and a single private payer.

BCBSIL is providing data and clinical tools that will be used to coordinate care, track progress and analyze outcomes.

“If the pilots are successful in enhancing care and helping to control costs, they could serve as a national model for health system improvement,” said Dr. Scott Sarran, chief medical officer at BCBSIL. “We commend Pronger Smith MedicalCare for their willingness to participate.  They are a highly regarded medical practice that is Joint Commission accredited and taken on a leadership role in the electronic medical record arena demonstrating the commitment and the clinical and administrative capabilities necessary to manage these pilots.”

Pronger Smith Medical Care launched their medical home program on August 1st with  its 18 primary care doctors working with about 27 specialists in most medical fields.  

"By partnering with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and piloting these new patient centered concepts, we are arming physicians with better information to care for their patients, which can lead to healthier lives. We anticipate that centralizing communications with all providers of care, at all levels, and that by incorporating  a primary care medical home will result in better outcomes for the patients.  We congratulate Blue and Cross Blue Shield for taking a leadership role in this effort, and are said happy to be part of the program,” said Dr. Yogesh Tejpal, MD, Managing Partner, Pronger Smith Medical Care.
“We believe it is critical that we get on a path that is better coordinated health care for patients that leads to fewer complications and improved results – at a lower overall cost. Medical homes and related reforms hold promise for improving the delivery of care if they are effectively targeted to patient populations most likely to gain from more coordinated care; and  tied to specific steps to ensure greater physician and patient accountability for demonstrating better results,” says Dr. Sarran.
BCBSIL,  Pronger Smith and other pilots will continuously monitor the pilot programs and after 12 months, review the data to determine their impact on quality, costs and patient satisfaction.

Contact: Maryann_Schultz@bcbsil.com
(312) 653.6701
or Dave Seaman, CEO dseaman@prongersmith.com
(708)388.5500 x1248