The ACO grants are being made as part of Blue Shield's 2 percent pledge, a commitment the company made last June to limit annual net income to 2 percent of revenue and to return the difference collected above that amount to customers and the community. Today's grants represent an average of $10 million for each of the two fiscal years (2010 and 2011) that the pledge has been applied.

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October 2011
Access OC's Prescribe Hope Golf Tournament
The Second Annual Prescribe Hope Golf Tournament is coming up on Monday, November 14, 2011! This fun and exciting event will be held at the beautiful Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo to benefit AccessOC and Lestonnac Free Clinics.

The tournament will feature a four-man best ball scramble format, a custom tournament golf shirt, breakfast, on-course beverages and snacks, and the fantastic Arroyo Grande Buffet. The day's events will begin with registration and a putting contest. The driving range will be available at 7:00 am with the shotgun start at 8:00 am. Golfers of all levels of play will thoroughly enjoy their day while improving the health of our Orange County community.

Proceeds from the day's tournament, on-course games, and prize-filled raffle, will benefit the community medical programs of AccessOC and Lestonnac Free Clinics. Teams who sign up before October 14 will get the Early Bird Special - a team of four can sign up for $900, which includes a tournament tee sign. Individual golfers can sign up for $250. After October 14, the foursome will increase to $1,000. Don't delay, sign up today!

Special thanks to Keith Matsutsuyu, NetChemistry, and Comprehensive Care Solutions for their generous support as the tournament's lunch sponsors. A big "hats off" to Anaheim Regional Medical Center for being the tournament's shirt sponsor. Thank you also to New England Life Insurance, a MetLife Company and Joe Castro for their hole sponsorship.



August 2011
L.A. Care Invests $1.5 Million To Implement Innovative eConsult System For L.A. County Safety Net Providers
eConsult System Will Reduce Patient Wait Times To Access Specialty Care
LOS ANGELES - L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation's largest public health plan, announced today an investment of $1.5 million to implement an innovative eConsult system, an electronic physician-to-specialist consultation and referral system, at approximately 47 L.A. County safety net sites, including Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) health care facilities. Once the eConsult system has been fully implemented, nearly 1 in 4 clinic sites in L.A. County will be using the system. L.A. Cares long-term goal is to help all L.A. County safety net providers implement and use the eConsult system. Program partners on the eConsult effort also include Health Care LA IPA and MedPoint Management.

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July 2011
NetChemistry's AuthMED Solution Implement's The Low Income Health Program (LIHP) for San Diego County Medical Services
LIHP is a program that funds medical care for uninsured adult county residents. LIHP uses a network of community health centers along with hospitals, community physicians, and mental health providers throughout San Diego County to provide health care services.



June 2011
NetChemistry and Medical Home Network will link Hospitals, Clinics and Doctors Serving Medicaid Patients
In an unprecedented effort to improve medical care on the Southwest Side, the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, five private hospitals, and dozens of clinics and physician practices have agreed to cooperate in bolstering basic care for Medicaid patients.

Their venture, known as the Medical Home Network, utilizes NetChemistry's Connect Platform and represents one of the most ambitious attempts in the U.S. to restructure the way care is delivered to vulnerable families covered by Medicaid, the government's health program for the poor.

It's set to launch this summer and initially cover more than 162,400 residents on the Southwest Side - one of Chicago's areas of greatest medical need, with deep pockets of poverty and a dearth of many crucial health care services.

The state is watching the venture closely. "We will do everything we can to assist this project," said Julie Hamos, director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, noting Illinois' commitment to introducing more coordination of care into its 2.9 million-member Medicaid program.

Medical Home Network has started by establishing working relationships among dozens of medical providers that had a previous track record of competition, not cooperation. Hospital partners include Cook County's Stroger, Provident and Oak Forest hospitals, Rush University Medical Center, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Holy Cross Hospital, Saint Anthony Hospital and La Rabida Children's Hospital.

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May 2011
LAC+USC Camino de Salud Network and Cope Launch Phase II of NetChemistry's eConsult platform
The platform provides PCP's the ability to ask Specialists about treatment plans or discuss a difficult case that may or may not need a Specialty referral. This collaborative process reduces inappropriate and unnecessary referrals before a visit is even scheduled. The platform can also increase valid referrals by providing specialty guidelines and communicating each Specialist's expectations to the PCP.

The Camino de Salud Network is an integrated public private delivery network, managed by Cope health Solutions, consisting of LAC+USC Healthcare Network and non-profit community clinics.

The network coordinates hospital services and community-based ambulatory care in order to ensure patients receive "access to the right care, at the right place, at the right time."

The network goal: "To develop a sustainable healthcare system with neighborhood access to primary care; enhance access to specialty and diagnostic care; and the coordination of primary care with inpatient and outpatient specialty and diagnostic services"



May 2011
HASC/ Children's Commission goes live with Phase II of Bridges Connect
Bridges has electronically connected the network of Orange County's Bridges hospitals, Family Resource Centers, and community agencies working together with the California Children and Families Commission of Orange County (the Commission). The Bridges Connect platform gives hospitals the ability to electronically refer patients to multiple community-based organizations and or agencies. The Bridges Connect system also supports agency linkage to providers within the Bridges Network by electronically connecting referrals to providers.



April 2011
NetChemistry's AuthMED Solution Implement's The Low Income Health Program (LIHP) for Orange County's Health Care Agency
Under a new 1115 Medicaid Waiver Program, Orange County will continue its expansion of healthcare services available to people who traditionally have not qualified for Medi-Cal or the County's MSI program. This new Low Income Health Program (or LIHP) is funded by the County and the federal government to provide services similar to Medi-Cal to qualified individuals. These services include provision of a medical home, inpatient and outpatient medical services, prescription medicines, home health care, emergency dental services, limited mental health services, and more. In Orange County, LIHP has been integrated into the County's existing MSI program. So, LIHP and MSI are just different names for the expanded healthcare program.



April 2011
Oppcom Launch Phase II of their Claims Management Platform
Communication is one of the most crucial components in making the difference between losing control of a claim and getting the injured employee back to work. Creating and managing accountability is the key ingredient in our latest version of OPPCOM's workers compensation platform.

At OPPCOM we designed our system to be very user friendly. The system is designed to be completely paperless. No more running around looking for your work comp claims kit. OPPCOM Systems is dedicated to improve the current workers compensation system in California to encourage businesses to stay in California rather than moving their operations to a different state or even out of the country. It is the belief of many that California business owners are fed up with the current system and is looking for change. OPPCOM has the answers.



March 2011
Specialty Care Initiative
NetChemistry's eConsult platform featured in The "Specialty Care Access in Los Angeles County eConsults Pilot Project" webinar. This was a collaboration between LA County Hospital and Community Health Centers. The project was sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, Northern and Southern CA Community Benefit and the California HealthCare Foundation. Featuring Dr. Paul Giboney, Medical Director Clinica Romero and Dr. Sarita Mohanty, Chief Medical Officer COPE Health Solutions.



March 2011
AccessOC - eConsult Update: Positive Outlook as Program Continues to Grow
Since its inception, Access OC has had one sole purpose; to help the most vulnerable population in Orange County by increasing access to specialty care. eConsult, being essential to Access OC's mission, is a web-based e-mail consultation service, designed to improve communication between primary care physicians and specialists.

In 2011, the program will be "rolled-out" to all of the clinics affiliated with the Coalition of Community Clinics of Orange County. Working closely with the Coalition has been and will be significant in bringing awareness to the providers and to increase the usage of the system. Our list of specialists in the eConsult panel has expanded thanks to the support of the volunteer physicians. We currently have eleven specialists enrolled, including the following specialties: Endocrinology, Nephrology, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic, Pediatrics GI, Pediatric Infectious Disease, and Urology.



February 2011
NetChemistry Launches eConsultsd for the San Diego County Medical Society Foundation
The SDCMS Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of www.eConsultSD.com in partnership with healthcare solutions provider NetChemistry. eConsultSD will revolutionize the way physicians communicate about patient care and ultimately reduce the need for specialty visits for underserved populations.

Through the e-consult system, primary care physicians (PCPs) at community clinics will be able to electronically connect with specialists for "curbside consultations." With more than 90 sites throughout the county, community clinics provide primary care for the vast majority of safety-net patients in San Diego. These clinic PCPs are frequently forced to make specialty referrals for issues that they could likely manage at the clinic if they had the input of a specialist. Fortunately, eConsults will allow clinic PCPs to engage in an electronic curbside consultation with a variety of appropriate specialists who are seeking an easier way to provide care for the safety net.



February 2011
NetChemistry Participates in the Southern California eConsult Collaborative.
Groups representing San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles Counties have come together to discuss their experience implementing and utilizing eConsult. Agenda items included recruitment, outcomes, capacity building, and future plans.