Baylor College of Medicine, the academic partner for Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, has reached an agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas to participate in the insurer’s PPO plan.
Children’s Hospital of San Antonio’s academic partner strikes deal with major insure – Scott Bailey
San Antonio Business Journal
Baylor College of Medicine, the academic partner for Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, has reached an agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas to participate in the insurer’s PPO plan.
As a result, patients and families covered by the insurer will now have access to more than 160 physicians and specialists who will practice exclusively at Christus Santa Rosa’s new downtown pediatric facility, which is under construction.
Lining up major agreements with insurance companies could ensure the long-term viability of the new pediatric hospital.
Baylor College of Medicine has spent more than two years assembling an international team of pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists. Asked why this is a big deal, Dr. Mark Gilger, pediatrician-in-chief for Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, said it will “improve health care access” for a larger number of patients.
The two sides worked for several months to reach an agreement, Gilger said.
Dr. Stephen Sigworth, vice president and chief medical director for Baylor College of Medicine, said the deal with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas “is an important development as we continue to build on the services provided to children in the San Antonio community.”
Baylor College of Medicine is engaged in negotiations with at least one additional major insurer — Aetna, Gilger said. If it can close that deal, an even larger population of patients will have access to covered care at the new children’s hospital.
“We continue to be very hopeful that we’ll reach an agreement with Aetna in the near future,” Gilger said.
