Enhanced online tool provides cost information for most common medical procedures
BCBSNM believes an educated consumer will make better health care decisions. We’re excited to announce an enhancement to our Hospital Comparison Tool. Named Care Comparison®, this new component of the hospital transparency tool will allow members to make informed decisions when choosing a hospital or facility for common medical procedures and related services.

Launched in September, the Care Comparison tool provides Blue claims-based cost information for 35 of the most commonly performed elective medical procedures. This easy-to-use tool allows members to review and compare total treatment costs, both professional and facility combined, for procedures performed at designated facilities in the BCBSNM provider network. Included are specified area hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and free-standing radiology centers, including inpatient and outpatient services. Members can also compare cost differences between area facilities by ZIP code.

With the addition of the Care Comparison tool to our existing Hospital Comparison tool, which provides measures of quality for 161 inpatient procedures, members can now compare hospitals as well as common medical tests and the facilities in which they are performed.

Members can access Care Comparison by logging in to Blue Access® for Members at bcbsnm.com/member.

Issue 12, 2009 • Blue Review • www.bcbsnm.com