Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Renews EDS Information Technology Services Contract
March 27 2008 - 9:15AM
PR Newswire (US)
Agreement begins third decade of companies' relationship PLANO,
Texas and PHOENIX, March 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EDS and Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) today announced the two
companies have renewed their 20-year relationship. The five-year
agreement for the MetaVance(R) Administration and Finance System
will allow BCBSAZ to continue to meet industry mandate terms and
improve claims processing accuracy and speed, ultimately lowering
costs and improving customer satisfaction for its providers and
members. Financial terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.
Since signing the original agreement in 1987, the companies have
worked together to consolidate BCBSAZ's multiple claims processing
platforms onto MetaVance and integrate processes for HIPAA
compliance, among other milestones. Today, MetaVance processes an
average of 11 million claims per year for BCBSAZ. "Reaching the
highest customer satisfaction levels while reducing operating costs
is one of our top operational and strategic priorities at BCBSAZ.
Continuing to use MetaVance is a key component to delivering on
this priority," said Elizabeth Messina, senior vice president and
CIO for BCBSAZ. "We have and continue to look to EDS for their IT
and industry expertise." With this agreement, EDS will continue to
deliver existing services, which include managing and enhancing
MetaVance and hosting the software application at the EDS data
center in Sacramento, California. As one of the first EDS clients
to adopt MetaVance, the BCBSAZ team has suggested numerous
architectural improvements in the claims processing software in use
today. EDS notes that MetaVance is a scalable software product used
to automate core administrative processes such as enrollment,
member eligibility and claims processing for healthcare payers with
multiple companies, lines of business and products such as
indemnity, preferred provider organizations and health maintenance
organizations. MetaVance is based on a flexible, service-oriented
architecture and is designed for payers looking to automate
processes such as enrollment, call tracking and workflow. The
member-centric model supports tailored benefits for both the member
and their dependents and supports consumer-directed health plans.
"The EDS team takes great pride in continuing this successful
relationship with such a well-established health insurance
company," said Sean Kenny, EDS Global Healthcare Industry vice
president. "We will remain focused on helping BCBSAZ further
optimize operations and improve service to its providers and
members in a secure environment." EDS has served the healthcare
industry for more than 40 years. Today, EDS touches more than 200
million lives daily and performs 2.4 billion healthcare
transactions each year, including 1 billion in healthcare claims
annually. EDS is the nation's largest provider of Medicaid and
Medicare process management services, administering $95 billion in
benefits a year and serves as fiscal agent or principal IT provider
for Medicaid in 22 states. With more than 7,000 professionals
dedicated to supporting healthcare clients worldwide, EDS' global
healthcare experience spans payer, provider, government and life
science communities. About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, an independent licensee of the Blue
Cross and Blue Shield Association, is the largest Arizona-based
health insurance company. The not-for-profit company was founded in
1939 and provides health insurance products, services or networks
to more than 1.1 million individuals. With offices in Phoenix,
Flagstaff, Tempe and Tucson, the company employs more than 1,500
Arizonans. For information about Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
and its community programs such as WalkingWorks, please visit
http://www.azblue.com/. About EDS EDS is a leading global
technology services company delivering business solutions to its
clients. EDS founded the information technology outsourcing
industry more than 45 years ago. Today, EDS delivers a broad
portfolio of information technology and business process
outsourcing services to clients in the manufacturing, financial
services, healthcare, communications, energy, transportation, and
consumer and retail industries and to governments around the world.
Learn more at eds.com. The statements in this news release that are
not historical statements, including statements regarding the
amount of new contract values, are forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements
are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are
beyond EDS' control, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from such statements. For information concerning these
risks and uncertainties, see EDS' most recent Form 10-K. EDS
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. CONTACT: Julie Basa Regena Frieden EDS
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona 972 605 1862 602 864 4046
DATASOURCE: Electronic Data Systems Corporation CONTACT: Julie Basa
of Electronic Data Systems, +1-972-605-1862, ; or Regena Frieden of
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, +1-602-864-4046,
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