We are proud to be recognized by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia as a Blue Distinction® Center for Maternity Care. Part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program, this category awards nationally designated hospitals that show expertise in delivering improved patient safety and better health outcomes. We are the only hospital in the Mid-Ohio Valley to receive this blue level of distinction for Maternity Care.
L-R Thomas A. Durnell, MD, OB/GYN; Tammy Hoffman, clinical manager of Women’s and Children’s; Jim Fawcett, president and CEO Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia; Marianne Dietrick-Gallagher, interim director of Women’s and Children’s; Christine Daniels, MBA, MSN, RN, NE-BC, interim vice president patient care services/chief nursing officer;Brenda Knight, RN and Cindy Kern, vice president Quality.
WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center Recognized as Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care - February 20, 2018 Parkersburg, WV
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia has recognized WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center with a Blue Distinction ® Center for Maternity Care designation as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated hospitals that show expertise in delivering improved patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed with input from the medical community.
Nearly four million babies are born in the U.S. annually, making childbirth the most common cause of
hospitalization, and cesarean sections the most common operating room procedures, according to National Centers for Health Statistics and the Agency for Health care Research & Quality (AHRQ).
Reducing early elective delivery is an area of focus for the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). According to Health Affairs, elective inductions result in more cesarean deliveries and a longer maternal hospitalization. The Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program evaluates hospitals on quality measures for vaginal and cesarean delivery.
WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center is the only hospital in the Mid-Ohio Valley to be recognized by Highmark BCBS West Virginia for meeting the rigorous Blue Distinction Center quality selection criteria for maternity care set by the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.
“We are extremely proud to receive the Blue Distinction for the maternity care we provide. Receiving this distinction signifies our expertise and commitment to providing the highest quality of maternity care to every family we serve,” said Christine Daniels, MBA, MSN, RN, NE-BC, interim vice president patient care services/chief nursing officer, CCMC. “We are the only hospital in the Mid-Ohio Valley to obtain this blue level of distinction, confirming the standards of excellence you can expect when you choose WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center.”
“The Blue Distinction program gives Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia members the ability to choose their providers based upon reliable quality and safety information. It also provides a pathway for exceptional providers to demonstrate their value, and delivers the kind of transparency necessary for members to make informed value-driven health care decisions. We congratulate our Blue Distinction Specialty Care Providers on their accomplishment and thank our members for choosing Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia,” said Jim Fawcett, president, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies across the nation have recognized more than 1,000 hospitals as Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care. Hospitals recognized with this designation are assessed using a combination of quality information supplied by hospitals and cost measures derived from BCBS companies’ medical claims.
Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality specialty care in the areas of bariatric surgery, cancer care, cardiac care, maternity care, knee and hip replacements, spine surgery and transplants, while encouraging health care professionals to improve the care they deliver. Research shows that, compared to other hospitals, those designated as Blue Distinction Centers demonstrate better quality and improved outcomes for patients. For more information about the program and for a complete listing of the designated facilities, please visit www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.
About WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center:
CCMC is a 302 licensed-bed, not-for- profit, acute care facility that serves the Mid-Ohio Valley; a nine county region of 200,000 residents of West Virginia and Southeastern Ohio. As the community's hospital for 118 years, Camden Clark is the region's primary source for advanced healthcare, wellness programs and has earned accreditation from The Joint Commission. About Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia serves approximately 290,000 members through the company’s health care benefits business and hundreds of thousands of additional members through the Blue Card program.
With offices in in Parkersburg, Charleston and Wheeling, it employs more than 750 people. Highmark West Virginia is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, visit www.highmark.com.
About Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 36 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide health care coverage for one in three Americans. BCBSA provides health care insights through The Health of America Report series and the national BCBS Health Index. For more information on BCBSA and its member companies, please visit bcbs.com.
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About Blue Distinction Centers
Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures for patient safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community. A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for providers located in its own service area; for details, contact your Local Blue Plan. Blue Distinction Centers+ (BDC+) also met cost measures that address consumers’ need for affordable health care. Each provider’s cost of care is evaluated using data from its Local Blue Plan. Providers in CA, ID, NY, PA, and WA may lie in two Local Blue Plans’ areas, resulting in two evaluations for cost of care; and their own Local Blue Plans decide whether one or both cost of care evaluation(s)
must meet BDC+ national criteria. National criteria for BDC and BDC+ are displayed on ww.bcbs.com. Individual outcomes may vary. For details on a provider’s in-network status or your own policy’s coverage, contact your Local Blue Plan and ask your provider before making an appointment. Neither Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for non-covered charges or other losses or damages resulting from Blue Distinction or other providers.