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News Release

Media Contacts:
Christina Chavira
Communications Specialist
530.332.5589 - office
christina.chavira@enloe.org              

Enloe Re-Designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care® 

CHICO, Calif., Jan. 6, 2010- Anthem Blue Cross has re-designated Enloe Medical Center as a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care. Enloe first received the designation in 2007. To date, roughly 400 facilities nationwide have received a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care designation.

As part of Blue Distinction®, facilities are required to reapply periodically for re-evaluation. This review process confirms that all Blue Distinction Centers®, new and old, continue to meet Blue Distinction’s evidence-based quality thresholds, determined in collaboration with expert physicians and organizations. It also provides an opportunity to improve the overall quality of care, by requiring all Blue Distinction Centers to meet selection criteria that keep abreast with ongoing advances in clinical practice.

The need for quality cardiac care is urgent: The American Heart Association estimates that this year alone, 1.2 million Americans will experience a first or recurrent heart attack.

“We are proud of this designation. It reflects the great work accomplished by our Heart Program team led by Dr. Walter Kusumoto and Dr. Miguel Puig,” said Mike Wiltermood, Enloe’s Chief Executive Officer.

The Enloe Heart team offers a thoughtful, multi-disciplinary approach to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease to improve quality of life. Services include off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery, endoscopic vein harvesting, cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology services, cardiac diagnostics, cardiac disease prevention and rehabilitation, and an award-winning anticoagulation clinic.

“Blue Distinction puts a high value on research and evidence-based health and medical information,” says Allan Korn, MD, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Chief Medical Officer. “Blue Distinction Centers show our commitment to working with doctors and hospitals in communities across the country to identify leading institutions that meet clinically validated quality standards and deliver better overall outcomes in patient care.”

To be designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care, Enloe Medical Center met the selection criteria posted at www.BCBS.com, which includes:

  • an established cardiac care program, performing required annual volumes for certain procedures
  • appropriate experience of its cardiac team, including sub-specialty board certification for interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons
  • an established acute care inpatient facility, including intensive care, emergency and a full range of cardiac services
  • full accreditation by The Joint Commission, Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP) or national equivalent**
  • low overall complication and mortality rates
  • a comprehensive quality management program

Blue Distinction is a designation awarded by Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies to medical facilities that have demonstrated expertise in delivering quality health care. The designation is based on rigorous, evidence-based selection criteria established in collaboration with expert physicians’ and medical organizations’ recommendations. Today, more than 800 Blue Distinction Center designations have been awarded to facilities nationwide, providing consumers with a framework for making informed decisions on where to go for specialty care in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, and transplants.

Note:  Designation as Blue Distinction Centers means these facilities' overall experience and aggregate data met objective criteria established in collaboration with expert clinicians' and leading professional organizations’ recommendations.  Individual outcomes may vary. To find out which services are covered under your policy at any facilities, please call your local Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Plan.

** At the discretion of the local BCBS Plan and under a specified contingency process, a facility that provides the full range of cardiac services but does not provide on-site coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery may be considered for Blue Distinction designation if it is part of a cooperative system with a qualifying facility that provides emergency backup CABG for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and meets our contingency criteria. Blue Distinction Centers for Cardiac Care without on-site CABG will be differentiated from full-service Blue Distinction Centers for Cardiac Care in program listings.

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Enloe Medical Center is a local, nonprofit health care organization. For more information, please call 530/332-7300 or visit us online at http://www.enloe.org.   Enloe Medical Center is located at 1531 Esplanade Chico, Calif.  95926. 

Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California. Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association. ® ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association.

 

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Enloe Medical Center is a local, nonprofit health care organization. For more information, please call 530/332-7300 or visit us online at http://www.enloe.org.   Enloe Medical Center is located at 1531 Esplanade Chico, Calif.  95926.