Blue KC Announces Spira Care

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC) and Shawnee Mission Health announced the launch of

Spira Care , a combined primary care and insurance offering available exclusively to eligible Blue KC members beginning in January of 2018.

Spira Care was designed following months of hands-on collaboration with consumers to create a health plan that's easy to understand and even easier to use. The Spira Care experience takes place in Care Centers, where personal Care Guides will help members navigate the world of healthcare; answering questions, explaining benefits, and coordinating care across all providers.

Primary care physicians will take the lead in delivering high-quality, patient-focused personalized care with no copays, deductibles or additional costs for any care provided at the Spira Care Centers.* Select prescriptions will also be offered onsite at each member's regular copay level. Technology will also play a major role, with email capabilities and text-messaging available at a patient's request.

"Spira Care is the latest step in Blue KC's series of primary care programs that's designed to bring back the personal side of healthcare," said Greg Sweat, M.D., Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Blue KC. "Spira Care gives patients the time and access to the care they need, and creates a system for doctors that's designed to foster relationships with their patients and provide better care."

A cornerstone of Spira Care is the relationship with Shawnee Mission Health, which will help streamline administration for physicians. This approach allows the Spira Care Team more time to devote to helping patients manage their long-term health goals. It's also designed to create savings for employers by combining advanced primary care with the high-performance BlueSelect Plus network.

"We believe this partnership is an important step in our journey to bring innovative care solutions to the Kansas City community," said Scott Woods, Chief Operating Officer of the Shawnee Mission Physicians Group at Shawnee Mission Health. "We look forward to strengthening our existing relationship with Blue KC through Spira Care."

Spira Care addresses several key challenges in the current healthcare landscape including:

• Experience – Extended hours, walk-in appointments, and multiple options for communication, will be available at all Spira Care locations.
• Simplicity – There are no copays, no deductibles and no additional costs for any care provided at the Spira Care Centers*.
• Quality – Spira Care's "Care Team" approach streamlines the coordination of care for each patient, keeping care intuitive and personal.
• Cost – Spira Care is designed to create savings for members and employers by combining patient centered primary care with the high-performance BlueSelect Plus network.

The two Spira Care Centers are located in Olathe, Kansas (135^th Street and Black Bob) and Shawnee, Kansas (Shawnee Mission Parkway, east of Nieman). The Olathe location will open on January 2, 2018, and the Shawnee location will open in April of 2018. Both locations will offer extended hours and provide easy access to an array of services for members including primary care visits, routine behavioral health services, lab draws, X-rays and more. Services provided outside of the Spira Care Centers, like a specialist visit with a doctor in the BlueSelect Plus network, will go toward the member's applicable deductible. Visit SpiraCare.com to learn more.

*Services received outside of the Care Center from providers in the BlueSelect Plus network will be subject to the plan deductible. After the deductible is met, services received from BlueSelect Plus providers are covered at 100 percent. Members will also have the nationwide coverage of the BlueCard network outside the 32-county Blue KC service area. Non-emergency services received from non-network providers will not be covered under the plan.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Missouri and the only not-for-profit commercial health insurer in Kansas City, has been part of the Kansas City community since 1938. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City provides health coverage services to more than one million residents in the greater Kansas City area, including Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and 30 counties in Northwest Missouri. Our mission: to use our role as the area's leading health insurer to provide affordable access to health care and to improve the health and wellness of our members. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information on the company, visit its website at BlueKC.com.

About Shawnee Mission Health

Shawnee Mission Health (SMH) is a network of health care facilities and services located throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area and surrounding communities. The network includes Shawnee Mission Medical Center (SMMC) in Merriam, Kan., a 504-bed facility with more than 20,000 inpatient admissions and more than 200,000 outpatient admissions annually; SMH – Prairie Star, a comprehensive health care facility located in western Lenexa, Kan.; as well as physician practices located throughout Johnson and Leavenworth Counties. SMH serves more than 70,000 patients in its emergency departments annually, has the area's first accredited Chest Pain Emergency Center and delivers more babies each year at SMMC than any other hospital in the metropolitan area. SMH also has some of the highest customer service or HCAHPS scores in the Kansas City metro. The network employs more than 3,000 local residents and supports an exceptional staff of 700 physicians representing 50 medical specialties, the largest medical staff of any full-service hospital in Kansas City. Visit us online at ShawneeMission.org.

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SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City