Blue Cross reaches early agreement with Jefferson

Independence Blue Cross and the Jefferson Health System announced Tuesday that they have reached early agreement on a new contract that will run until May 2013 and is a model for other hospitals in the region.

It is the first to expand on the insurer's previous pay-for-performance program to include physicians who work in the health system and to consider both the quality and cost of the care provided, said Douglas L. Chaet, senior vice president, Contracting and Provider Networks at IBC.

The contract covers Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Main Line Health hospitals: Bryn Mawr, Lankenau, Paoli and Riddle Memorial.

The old agreement was to have expired June 2011. It will be supplanted by the new pact, which takes effect Jan. 1.    - Stacey Burling