Fairview and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Reach Contract Agreement for Clinics and...( MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL Minn. Au...),Health

MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Fairview and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota have reached an agreement on a contract that allows Fairview clinics to remain as participating providers in all of Blue Cross' provider networks. The Fairview clinic contract was set to expire at midnight on Friday, August 22, 2008. Agreement was also reached for the Fairview hospitals to remain as participating network hospitals with the Blue Cross network. The hospital contract was not set to expire until October 28, 2008. The contracts are in effect through the end of 2009.

"We are pleased that an agreement has been reached. We wanted to avoid any disruption in care for our patients and have been committed to finding a solution that allows us to make appropriate investments so we can continue to provide exceptional patient care and service," said Mark Eustis, President and CEO, Fairview. "We had many good and thoughtful discussions that helped us develop a mutually acceptable contract."

"We know that our members and customers will be pleased we reached an agreement that keeps Fairview providers and facilities in our contracted network, and also that we were able to make progress in keeping health care more affordable," says Colleen Reitan, President and Chief Operating Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield. "There was a lot of hard work and time spent in creating the agreement and both parties worked diligently to assure that patients and members had uninterrupted care and coverage."

Blue Cross members can continue to receive care at a Fairview clinic or facility with uninterrupted coverage. Members can find more information at http://www.bluecrossmn.com or by calling the customer service number on the back of their I.D. card. Fairview also has information at http://www.fairview.org.