History
Founded in 1984, BlueChoice HealthPlan was one of the first health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in South Carolina. Originally known as Companion HealthCare, it was the first HMO offered by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.
BlueChoice HealthPlan experienced explosive growth during its first few years, and today, more than 205,000 members have chosen BlueChoice HealthPlan.
Throughout our history, we have stressed the need for preventive care. We created several programs to help our members stay healthy, including our Great Expectations®† for health programs.
BlueChoice HealthPlan has won praise for its programs. In the early 90s, former S.C. Governor Carroll Campbell honored our efforts to increase immunization rates. We won an award from the sponsors of National Breast Awareness Month for our Great Expectations®† Women's Health program. In 1998, our Great Expectations®† Asthma program won an Excellence in Disease Management award from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
In 2006, BlueChoice HealthPlan earned its fifth consecutive "excellent" accreditation -- the highest level possible -- from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). In 2002, NCQA released its State of Health Care Quality report. It identified BlueChoice HealthPlan as one of the top 15 accredited organizations for the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans (CAHPS), member satisfaction measures in the U.S. NCQA is an independent, not-for profit organization that evaluates managed care organizations. BlueChoice HealthPlan also participates in NCQA's Health Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS). HEDIS is a set of measures health plans use to uniformly collect data and report on their performance.
HEDIS is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
CAHPS is a registered trademark of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.