BATON ROUGE, La. -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana has received a Brand Excellence Award from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) for Brand Innovation. The annual Brand Excellence awards honor Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that excel in developing and enhancing the overall Blue brand image.
Blue Cross received the award for Brand Innovation, which recognizes an innovative program that provides measurable impact to customers and the Blue brand. Blue Cross was recognized for the insurer’s partnership with the State of Louisiana over the past year on the COVID-19 Louisiana Outbreak Tracker.
Blue Cross’ Analytics & Data team developed the tracker using their proprietary Pi (Performance Insights) platform. Even before the first COVID-19 case was identified in Louisiana in early March 2020, Blue Cross team members and state officials were using the tracker to monitor the novel coronavirus’ spread. They aggregated, analyzed and modeled diverse data for both Blue Cross members and members of state Medicaid plans. Together, this population represents two out of three Louisianians. Data feeds were in near-real time and exchanged through secure use agreements to protect privacy.
The COVID-19 tracker allowed the state to make projections about rates of hospitalizations, deaths and healthcare facilities’ capacity. This gave state officials important information they needed to allocate crucial medical resources, implement mitigation measures like school closings and mask mandates and, ultimately, save lives. That partnership continues today, as Blue Cross works with the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) to provide analysis that can assist with COVID-19 vaccine prioritization.
“Nearly one in three Americans trust the Blue Cross and Blue Shield brand to provide affordable, accessible and high-quality healthcare coverage to them and their families,” said Kim Keck, BCBSA President and CEO. “We are proud to recognize Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and their innovative COVID-19 Louisiana Outbreak tracker for the depth and impact of the solution, especially during the pandemic, along with its broad impact on the communities they serve.”
“We are proud that at such a critical time for the state, our team was able to support the COVID-19 response through our analytics and data capabilities and technology,” said Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Chief Analytics & Data Officer Somesh Nigam, Ph.D. “Public-private partnerships like this one are an example of how success can happen through collaboration. And, we continue supporting the state’s COVID-19 response in other ways, including with our clinical resources and community outreach to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.”
“Blue Cross’ insights and expertise on this COVID-19 data project have helped the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) and our state during a time of unprecedented need and uncertainty,” said LDH Secretary Dr. Courtney Phillips. “The additional data visualization, analytics and statistical modeling capacity that the Blue Cross team contributed have informed many of the difficult decisions that state leaders have made throughout the pandemic.”
“The working partnership between LDH and Blue Cross was established very early in the pandemic and it has evolved and grown over the course of the last year,” said Jeanie Donovan, Policy Director at LDH. “I’m deeply grateful for the time and talent the Blue Cross team has devoted to this partnership and appreciate their willingness to work hand-in-hand with us.”
This marks the 26th year that BCBSA has presented the prestigious Brand Excellence Awards to recognize Blue companies nationwide in categories that promote the brand, including attracting new customers, fostering loyalty among existing customers and brand innovation.
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is committed to our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. Founded in New Orleans in 1934, we are a tax-paying nonprofit health insurer with offices in every major region to serve our customers. We were recognized in 2019 and 2020 as an honoree of The Civic 50, named by Points of Light as one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. We are a private mutual company, owned by our policyholders, with an independent Louisiana Board of Directors and no shareholders. We invite all Louisianians to visit our website at www.bcbsla.com or talk to us on social media.
About the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 35 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. We also encourage you to connect with us on Facebook, check out our videos on YouTube , follow us on Twitter and check out our blog.
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