Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans Look to Extend Reach into Primary Care and Urgent Care

Working with healthcare giant Sanitas USA, Blue Cross Blue Shield (BC/BS) plans in numerous states are opening up primary care clinics that further complicate the competitive landscape occupied by urgent care, retail clinics, hospital systems, and traditional medical practices. The partnership already operates such practices in several markets in Florida and New Jersey, both of which may be expanding. Next on the horizon are plans to work with Health Care Services Corp., which owns BC/BS plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, to do the same in those states. According to an article published recently in Forbes, it’s likely those plans will also include opening new urgent care centers. The article notes that patient visits to clinics operated under the partnership reflect cost savings compared with visits to “other” clinics and hospital emergency rooms for similar complaints.