The 2000 National Exemplary Practice Program Award Winners

The 2000 Award Winners are:

Exemplary Practice-Asthma
Blue Care Network of Michigan
Asthma Management Program, Southfield, MI

The 2000 National Exemplary Practice Award Program winner for Asthma is Blue Care Network of Michigan (BCN) for their Asthma Management Program. This program is designed to address the needs of BCN’s more than 24,000 members with asthma through collaborative partnership between the plan, member and primary care physician. BCN empowers members through education to promote effective self-management. BCN’s disease management and case management programs are strongly linked to ensure members receive consistently high-quality, individualized service. Data on the population is continuously monitored and updated and performance feedback to physicians is an essential aspect to the care process.

Exemplary Practice-Cardiovascular Disease
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
Proactive Care Management, Atlanta, GA

The 2000 National Exemplary Practice Award Program winner for Cardiovascular Disease is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia for their Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Proactive Care Management program. This program acts as an extension of the physician’s plan of treatment to increase member awareness and understanding of CHF, improve their quality of life, increase appropriate medication use and compliance, and decrease emergency room visits as well as CHF-related hospital admissions. Through a comprehensive approach to member education, physician notification, coordination of services and telemonitoring when appropriate, the CHF program has improved members’ understanding of CHF, affected the number and duration of hospitalizations, and increased their perceived quality of life.

Exemplary Practice-Diabetes
Kaiser Permanente’s Care Management Institute
Integrated Diabetes Care Program, Oakland, CA

The 2000 National Exemplary Practice Award Program winner for Diabetes is Kaiser Permanente’s Care Management Institute (CMI) for their Integrated Diabetes Care Program (IDC). The overriding objective of the Integrated Diabetes Care Program is to enhance the health of its members with diabetes, control diabetes disease progression, and prevent disability. Five key strategies are employed to effect successful implementation: feedback reports, in-reach reminders, patient-driven reminders, clinician educational methodologies, and patient educational methodologies. The evaluation of the IDC is conducted through CMI’s annual National Outcomes Reports. These studies, beginning in 1996, identify more than 330,000 Kaiser Permanente members with diabetes and report on numerous clinical and process outcomes for these members, including case identification, glycemic screening and control, lipid screening and control, eye examination, renal screening and treatment, and hospital utilization. This intervention will be sustained over time through the continuing collaboration of Kaiser Permanente’s multiple Regions, facilitated by the Care Management Institute, backed by national program leadership.