Chris Anderson

The new online tool MyCare Advisor allows members to price shop based on historical claims data for 57 of the most common procedures at hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and imaging centers.

The 12-year agreement, representing more than $9.5 billion in annual drug spending, allows Aetna to apply its IT capabilities to delivering point-of-care clinical guidance.

A special section of the National Council on Aging website provides seniors with information on 12 important facts they should know about health reform, including quizzes to test their knowledge and webinars to help aging services professionals conduct their own "Straight Talk for Seniors on Health Reform" presentations.

Virginia's Anthem BCBS has launched an initiative to reduce expenditures on ER visits, roughly 60 percent of which could be shifted to other locations that provide the same care for a fraction of the price.

Cost-containment specialists Advanced Medical Pricing Solutions (AMPS) and TC3 Health Inc., of Irvine, Calif., have joined forces to broaden offerings for payer customers in the hospital billing arena.

In a partnership aimed at helping both insurance carriers and employers, out-of-network specialist Progressive Medical and StoneRiver Pharmacy Solutions announced yesterday the broad availability of a combined electronic service that will aid in correctly identifying payers for out-of-network pharmacy benefits.

The TriZetto Group Inc. announced this week a partnership with professors who founded the value-based insurance design movement to develop chronic-condition templates as options for healthcare payer customers of TriZetto's Value-Based Benefits Solution.