Discussion on Health Plans

Questions: 1.Construct a table that compares program features for the two vendors you are considering?2.Create a list of questions, specific to each vendor, which you intend to email to the two vendors asking for additional information regarding areas missing from their program descriptions, or requiring more details. Explain the reason for each question.3.While the information you receive in response to your emails could change your mind, at this point which vendor (of the two you profiled in your response to question 1) do you favor? Explain why. Answers: 1. Two asthma management care vendors, Blue Cross Blue shield (Blue Cross) and Envolve PeopleCare, are chosen for this assignment from the American health insurance plans website (AHIP Direct - AHIP, 2017). Standards Blue cross health insurance Envolve PeopleCare About American health insurance giant providing catchy insurance plan named My childs asthma care plan (Your Childs Asthma Care: Build a Team | Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2017) Comprises of Nurtur, LiveHealthier, Cenpatico and Nursewise Envolve PeopleCare, 2017). What the plan covers A family practitioner, a pharmacist, an asthma educator nurse, and an allergist (Your Childs Asthma Care: Build a Team | Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2017). Provides healthcare plans in individual settings via education and empowerment Envolve PeopleCare, 2017). Details of the plan The family pediatrician will diagnose the child, set up a treatment plan along with an asthma action plan, and refer to other specialists if need be. The pharmacist will educate the child about different asthma medication and will explain about the side effects that they may cause. Asthma nurse will b a trained professional to aid the family in taking adequate care of the child according to his health conditions. The allergist is an optional addition in case of allergic asthma and will educate the family and the child about the allergens triggers in the environment (Your Childs Asthma Care: Build a Team | Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2017). No clear information available for asthma care in particular, but provides Digital Health, Behavioral Health, foster care management and nurseline services Envolve PeopleCare, 2017). Family education Provides training to the family members about adequate asthma management so that they can handle a severe asthma attack (Your Childs Asthma Care: Build a Team | Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2017). Provides health and life coaching to patients and families to empower them and elnlighten them about their health complexities (Envolve PeopleCare, 2017). Extra initiative Provides the school with a curated asthma action plan, so that the child can healthy and safe even in the school (Your Childs Asthma Care: Build a Team | Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2017) . Provides foster care management for the patients in need (Envolve PeopleCare, 2017). 2. For Blue Cross: First and foremost, I would like to know the health care providers that are involved in your plans? The reason why I pose this question is clear, as I could not find the health care providers 1listed in your asthma care management plan. Who are the physicians involved in your care? It is important for me to know who are the physicians involved with your services and their previous track records. Are the pharmacists and allergists that your care plan is supposed to provide registered? It is very important for me to know if your healthcare professionals hold a valid registration before I can trust you with the lives of the children of my employees (Papadopoulos et al., 2012). Are the nurses provided by you hold experience in the field of pediatric asthma care? Children care can be very tricky and it is vital that the nurses are registered and hold a significant experience in the field of pediatric asthma care (Sleath et al., 2012). What relief medication does your system provide? There are a lot of medications available in the market for asthma treatment with a lot of side effects and there is no information available in your website about drug control (Kit et al., 2012). What is the cost for purchasing the care plan? Again, there is no information available in the website about how much your care plans cost. Will I be given any concession as I will be purchasing care plans for all my employees? It is standard measure that bulk payment is given some concession, and I will like to know what percentage will I be entitled to. For Envolve PeopleCare: What are the asthma care plans provided by your company? I am impressed by the variety of care services provided by your company, but there is no clear description about individual care plans for specific ailments (Envolve PeopleCare, 2017). Who are your partners? It is very important for me to know who are associated with your care services. What relief medication do you use? There is no clear information available in the internet about what kind of medication do you use in case of pediatric asthma, for example, do you use corticosteroid (Kit et al., 2012)? Are the physicians and health care professionals associated with you registered? As mentioned, the health care professionals must have a valid registration before I can entrust them with the life of my employees children (Philp et al., 2012). What kind of patient family education programs do you conduct? In most cases, the families do not have much knowledge about asthma attacks and the safety protocols in such conditions (Rank et al., 2013). What are the expenses of purchasing your care plans? There is not information available that could guide me about the costs of your care plans. Will I be entitled to any discounts? I would also like to know if I will be given any concession as I will be purchasing a bulk amount of insurance covers. 3. My judgment was clouded by the lack of information, however, thee email responses helped me to overcome my dilemma. I choose Blue Cross insurance company for the following reasons: First and foremost, the company could provide exact details of their care plans regarding their asthma care management for the children, their transparency impressed me which was lacking in case of Envolve (Your Childs Asthma Care: Build a Team | Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2017). Blue Cross insurance company is one of the health insurance giants dominating the American market, and their popularity will help in elevating employee loyalty . Their asthma care management program is detailed and specific, with clear formation about the compartmentalization of the insurance covers. They could provide me with information regarding the performance records of the health care professionals associated with them and their annual success stats which impressed me to no ends. The family education program and school safety program is an excellent initiative and adds an extra feather in the cap for Blue Cross (Your Childs Asthma Care: Build a Team | Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2017). Lastly, the purpose behind this program was to reduce the company cost spent in the heath care covers for the employees, and Blue Cross people very kindly allowed me a good concession which justified the entire program. Reference List: AHIP Direct - AHIP. (2017). AHIP. Retrieved 23 February 2017, from https://www.ahip.org/direct-programs Kit, B. K., Simon, A. E., Ogden, C. L., Akinbami, L. J. (2012). Trends in preventive asthma medication use among children and adolescents, 19882008.Pediatrics,129(1), 62-69. Papadopoulos, N. G., Arakawa, H., Carlsen, K. H., Custovic, A., Gern, J., Lemanske, R., ... Zar, H. (2012). International consensus on (ICON) pediatric asthma.Allergy,67(8), 976-997. Philp, J. C., Maselli, J., Pachter, L. M., Cabana, M. D. (2012). Complementary and alternative medicine use and adherence with pediatric asthma treatment.Pediatrics,129(5), e1148-e1154. Rank, M. A., Branda, M. E., McWilliams, D. B., Johnson, S. K., Samant, S. A., Podjasek, J. C., ... Volcheck, G. W. (2013). Outcomes of stepping down asthma medications in a guideline-based pediatric asthma management program.Annals of Allergy, Asthma Immunology,110(5), 354-358. Sleath, B., Carpenter, D. M., Ayala, G. X., Williams, D., Davis, S., Tudor, G., ... Gillette, C. (2012). Communication during pediatric asthma visits and child asthma medication device technique 1 month later.Journal of Asthma,49(9), 918-925. Transformative Health Management - Envolve PeopleCare. (2017). Envolve PeopleCare. Retrieved 23 February 2017, from https://envolvepeoplecare.com Your Childs Asthma Care: Build a Team | Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. (2017).Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Retrieved 23 February 2017, from https://connect.bcbstx.com/health-and-wellness