“This is a vital service in our area,” said Dr. Chad Teeters, president and CEO of UR Medicine Noyes Health
DANSVILLE – Noyes Memorial Hospital – a part of UR Medicine Noyes Health –is proud to be recognized by Excellus BlueCross BlueShiled with a Blue Distinction® Centers+ (BDC+) for Maternity Care designation, as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. To earn this designation, each facility must deliver quality care, safely and cost-effectively.
The Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program plays a key role in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s (BCBSA) National Health Equity Strategy aimed at reducing racial health disparities across the care spectrum and improving patient outcomes for all Americans. To align with this strategy, the Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program enhanced its quality and measurement standards to recognize higher-quality facilities that have taken action to respond effectively to obstetric emergencies, reduce racial disparities, and improve maternal health outcomes.
Based on data from the current designation cycle, facilities designated under the Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program demonstrate higher-quality care compared to non-Blue Distinction Center facilities, with overall average rates of 26% lower episiotomies, 60% fewer elective deliveries and 17% lower cesarean births—all of which point to healthier outcomes for patients. BDC+ designated facilities also exhibited an average savings of 21% for maternity care.
“Noyes is the only hospital with a maternity department in Livingston County, and there are no hospitals in Steuben County with maternity services, so this is a vital service in our area,” said Dr. Chad Teeters, president and CEO of UR Medicine Noyes Health. “This designation reflects the high quality of service we are proud to provide to the community.”
The Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program’s selection criteria was devised to close clinical care gaps and reduce inequities that persist throughout the maternal care spectrum. The selection criteria includes components of BCBSA’s Maternal Health Equity Actions, which dismantle the cultural, operational and structural barriers that have created inequities that persist in maternal care.
To be designated under this program, each applicant facility was evaluated on a combination of objective data on patient outcomes as well as the practices implemented to reduce racial disparities and improve maternal health outcomes, such as:
- Using evidence-based best practices to respond effectively to obstetric emergencies
- Offering unconscious bias training
- Participating in the regional Perinatal Quality Collaborative
- Having doula support available on the maternity care team
- Collecting race, ethnicity and language data
- Having a program dedicated to quality improvements in maternal care
- Running drills and simulations to prepare providers are prepared to deal with a range of obstetric emergencies
- Demonstrating health outcomes that exceed the selection criteria from our program’s previous evaluation cycle
Noyes Memorial Hospital is proud to be recognized by Excellus BCBS for meeting the rigorous quality selection criteria for maternity care set by the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.
Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality specialty care at lower costs in the areas of bariatric surgery, cancer care, cardiac care, cellular immunotherapy, fertility care, gene therapy, knee and hip replacement, maternity care, spine surgery, substance use treatment and recovery, and transplants, while encouraging health care professionals to improve the care they deliver.
For more information about the program and for a complete listing of the designated providers, visit our website.
All companies and trademarks listed above are the property of their respective owners and used for identification purposes only, and are in no way associated or affiliated with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Use of these trademarks does not imply endorsement. The Blue Cross® and Blue Shield® names and symbols and Blue Distinction® are registered trademarks of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
UR Medicine Noyes Health is a diverse and comprehensive nonprofit health care system serving all of Livingston County and parts of Steuben, Allegany and Ontario counties in New York. The system includes Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital in Dansville, Noyes Health Services and Urgent Care in Geneseo, Noyes Kidney and Dialysis Center in Geneseo, and Noyes Mental Health and Wellness Services in Dansville and Avon. Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital is a full-service, 67-bed community the only 24-hour Emergency Department in Livingston County, and is accredited by the Joint Commission. The hospital is located off Interstate 390, Exit 4. For more information about UR Medicine Noyes Health, visit noyes.urmc.edu
Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is a nonprofit health plan with 1.5 million upstate New York members. The company’s mission is to help people live healthier and more secure lives through access to high-quality, affordable health care. Its products and services include cost-saving prescription drug discounts, wellness tracking tools and access to telemedicine. With more than 4,200 employees, the company is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse workforce to foster innovation and better serve its members. It also encourages employees to engage in their communities by providing paid volunteer time off as one of many benefits. To learn more, visit ExcellusBCBS.com.
About the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 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 IndexSM. For more information on BCBSA and its member companies, please visit bcbs.com.
About Blue Distinction Centers
Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures, developed with input from the medical community. A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for providers located in its own service area; for details, contact your Local Blue Plan. Blue Distinction Centers+ (BDC+) also met cost measures that address consumers’ need for affordable healthcare. Each provider’s cost of care is evaluated using data from its Local Blue Plan. Providers in CA, ID, NY, PA, and WA may lie in two Local Blue Plans’ areas, resulting in two evaluations for cost of care; and their own Local Blue Plans decide whether one or both cost of care evaluation(s) must meet BDC+ national criteria. National criteria for BDC and BDC+ are displayed on www.bcbs.com. Individual outcomes may vary. For details on a provider’s in-network status or your own policy’s coverage, contact your Local Blue Plan and ask your provider before making an appointment. Neither Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for noncovered charges or other losses or damages resulting from Blue Distinction or other provider finder information or care received from Blue Distinction or other providers.
