The economics of the health care environment are changing. Not only is your role greater but so is your share of health care costs. For example, the average cost of an emergency room visit in Florida was $619* in 2004, compared to $383 in 1996.* For many of us, our share of health care costs will rise as costs continue to climb. They’ve doubled since 1992 and are expected to double again by 2013.

As a smart health care consumer, you need to make decisions about the products and services you want and need. In a complex industry like health care, that can seem daunting. But, we offer many tools to help you make the decisions that are right for you. They can help you navigate the health care system and understand your needs, options, costs and benefit plan.

Get answers to health questions anytime
For health care decision support, speak privately with experienced Health Dialog^®* Health Coaches— health care professionals, including registered nurses, dieticians and respiratory therapists—available 24 hours a day, every day. They can answer your questions and explain complex treatment options, as well as provide educational material about your condition. Call them at (877) 789-2583.

Or you can visit Health Dialog’s health resource website, the Dialog Center^SM, to search for understandable, evidence-based information on available treatment options or for education and support on significant medical issues. Using the web-based information tool, you can search more than 27,000 pages of up-todate, easy-to-understand, in-depth information on more than 1,900 clinical topics. These include medical tests and medications. You also can get free audio, video and printed information on specific health conditions to help you weigh the risks and advantages of treatment options. You can access the Dialog Center right from our website. Have your health plan member ID card handy to register the first time.

www.bcbsfl.com
Click on Member, then Dialog Center

*Sources: AHCA, Jan. 2006; New England Journal of Medicine, 1996

What's new?

Take advantage of these online tools
We now offer members three great interactive health care decisionsupport tools: Physician Selection Advisor^TM, Healthcare Advisor^TM and Treatment Cost Advisor^TM, all from Subimo^TM*. Along with Hospital Advisor^TM, they provide information about local providers and easy-to-understand guidance regarding treatment options and their costs. The data are gathered and verified monthly from publicly reported information provided by more than 50 industry and government data sources, including the American Medical Association. Take advantage of all these tools anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Researching a physician
Looking for the right doctor for you? With Physician Selection Advisor, you can view and compare information about physicians. This includes specialty, office location, phone number, medical group affiliation, hospital affiliation(s), distance from zip code, board certified specialties, medical school, residency, years since graduation, gender and the date information was last updated. State sanctions data, such as if the doctor has ever been disciplined, also are included.

The tool includes a link to the hospitals where the physicians have admitting privileges. Identifying physician activity by hospital enables you to determine highvolume performers—doctors who have the most experience with procedures or care you are considering— at hospitals convenient to you. Inpatient procedure volumes are shown for the most recent year of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) information.

Researching a medical condition or procedure
Healthcare Advisor is a decision support tool that offers personalized health care information to help you think through your health care decisions. It covers more than 150 conditions and procedures and contains information on managing a condition, preparing for a procedure, questions to ask a doctor and benefit plan, and links to other resources.

Both Physician Selection Advisor and Healthcare Advisor include links to a hospital research tool, Hospital Advisor^TM, which we also provide for members on our website.

Researching a hospital
Choosing the right hospital is easier with the help of this interactive, web-based tool. Hospital Advisor enables you to choose a hospital based on your personal preferences and information that is important to you. It provides data regarding:

• A hospital’s clinical and quality experience outcomes with a variety of procedures
• Complication and infection rates
• Technological capabilities available

Researching health care cost
The Treatment Cost Advisor arms you with information to help you estimate the cost of specific health care services you are contemplating. Knowing approximate costs in advance can help you decide whether to seek services in- or out-of-network. The costs originate from a paid claims database of 50 million people over the course of one year. The source is Pharmetrix.

The Treatment Cost Advisor tool is integrated into the Healthcare Advisor tool, enabling you to move between the modules. Once you select a specific condition, the relevant medical services, drug categories, diagnostic tests and office visits are arrayed for a patient with that particular condition. You can put in specific age, sex and geographic information to pull data relevant to you.

www.bcbsfl.com
Logon to MyBlueService, click Health & Wellness, then Health Care Decision Support Tools

*BCBSF has entered into an arrangement with Health Dialog^® and Subimo^TM, respectively, whereby Health Dialog has agreed to provide BCBSF members with care decision support services and information and Subimo has agreed to provide BCBSF members with access to its applications. BCBSF does not credential or maintain these programs and cannot guarantee or be held responsible for the quality of service or information provided. All decisions that require or pertain to independent professional medical/clinical judgment or training, or the need for medical services, are solely your responsibility and the responsibility of your physicians and other health care providers. You and your physicians are responsible for deciding what medical care should be rendered or received, and when and how care should be provided. In making these services available to you, neither BCBSF, Health Dialog Services Corporation nor Subimo shall be deemed to be providing medical care or advice.