OREANDA-NEWS. August 08, 2013. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ), an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and the largest Arizona-based health insurance company, has selected McKesson Care Management software as their integrated health management system. McKesson will provide sophisticated workflow, decision support and analytics tools to proactively identify healthcare needs and improve coordination across care teams, with the goal of continuing to improve member health.

"While the healthcare industry experiences monumental change, BCBSAZ is committed to serving the needs of our 1.3 million customers," said Dr. Vishu Jhaveri, Chief Medical Officer. "Through our continued focus on care coordination and the use of the McKesson software, BCBSAZ aims to further reduce costs and improve quality of care for our members."

BCBSAZ will use the McKesson VITAL Platform, which is scalable, automated software that offers a seamless integration of case, disease and utilization management; InterQual® Criteria to provide evidence-based clinical decision support for medical reviews; and McKesson Risk Manager to deliver a wealth of insight into members' healthcare through the core clinical and financial decision-making elements of quality analysis, physician profiling, pay-for-performance adjudication and pharmacy analysis.

BCBSAZ has been an InterQual Criteria customer since 1998, and selected the VITAL Platform due to its tight integration with InterQual. The company will continue to utilize InterQual to drive appropriate care using evidence-based criteria for a variety of patient needs, including acute, subacute, rehabilitation, and behavioral health.

"It is an exciting time in healthcare, with collaboration becoming more and more essential to the health and well being of health plan members. We are thrilled to contract with BCBSAZ and support their vision to better the lives of those they serve," stated Naoise Colgan, Vice President of Care Management Solutions for McKesson Care Management. "This partnership will help optimize the healthcare system, driving better, more accessible care at lower costs."