Piedmont Hospital, Blue Cross Blue Shield reach accord - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The insurer and hospital agreed on anew three-year contract at about 12:30 a.m. Thursdayt morning. The deal comes after lengthy sessionds around the negotiating table inrecenf weeks, many lasting more than 10 The hospital and insurer had been in talkas since January, but thingzs heated up July 1, when the contracg allowing Piedmont to care for patients covered by Blue Cross insuranc expired as negotiations between the two partiezs reached a stalemate over rates Piedmont is paid for providint health care to Blue Cross Blue Shield members.
As a some patients and Blue Croszs members had to switch medical providersor payout-of-network which caused an uproar from many Under the agreement, Blue Crossa Blue Shield of Georgia memberw will be able to access Piedmont Healthcarer as an in-network provider as of Aug. 1. Specifix details of the agreement were not releaserd by thetwo parties. However, they did acknowledge that Piedmont Healthcare is joining Blue CrossBlue Shield'xs "Quality-In-Sights Hospital Incentive Program" as part of the new The program financially rewards hospitals that meet and exceedr quality measures in patient safety, patient outcome s and patient satisfaction.
Both Blue Crosz and Piedmont Healthcare will immediately begin informing patients, other health-care providers and insuranc brokers about the new agreement. They will also be working with patient s who had changed their primary care physiciann as a result of thecontract war, and may now want to returnm to their original doctor at Piedmont. "Whiler we know this has been a complex Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia and Piedmonf Healthcare have come to an agreemeny that ultimately accomplishes a very importantmissiohn - providing patients and members access to affordable, qualithy health care," said Caz Matthews, president of Blue Crosa Blue Shield of R.
Timothy Stack, president and CEO of Piedmonty Healthcare, said the new contract ensuresx that Blue Cross members have access to Piedmonty physicians and hospitals they have cometo "Piedmont has a century-long commitment to the residente of Georgia and the communitiezs we serve," Stack said. "The new agreement recognizea the value that Piedmont physicians and hospitalsx bring tothe