Blue Care Network of Michigan Earns National Leadership Award for Chronic Disease ...( DETROIT Sept. 20 /- Blue Care Net...),Health

DETROIT, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Care Network of Michigan has received a national award for leadership excellence in chronic disease care from DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance.

BCN received a DMAA Disease Management Leadership Award in the category of Outstanding Health Plan. The recognition is for Healthy Blue Living(SM), the innovative product BCN introduced in 2006. Healthy Blue Living rewards both employers and members for attempting to meet healthy lifestyle goals.

"It is an honor to be recognized for our team's innovative work that, most important, really changes lives," said Douglas R. Woll, M.D., BCN senior vice president and chief medical officer. "We believe we are one of the first health plans, if not the pioneer, to offer a product that promotes healthful lifestyles, rewards collaboration and aligns the interests of the member, physician, employer and plan.

"Strong incentives for members to commit to and adopt healthful lifestyles -- and for purchasers to heavily promote them -- are embedded in our product, Healthy Blue Living," Woll said. "The support to members is comprehensive. It ranges from a defined opportunity for each member to learn his or her personal set of modifiable risk factors, to physician guidance, to health coaching tailored for each individual.

"Our approach is based on more than a decade of research showing that behavior change is a key driver in controlling current and future health care costs."

BCN's award was one of three Disease Management Leadership Awards presented at DMAA's 9th Annual Disease Management Leadership Forum. DMAA earlier this year solicited award nominations in a rigorous process that evaluated nominations against seven core criteria focusing on commitment, program design, implementation, innovation, outcomes-based orientation, scope and potential impact, and vision/leadership. Each award winner also met category-specific criteria.

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