PHARMACY UPDATE

Transparent Cost of Care

The CIGNA Cost of Care Estimator^® can help you accurately estimate what your patients with CIGNA administered medical plans may owe for your services, and what you can expect to be paid from CIGNA on their behalf. This can help reduce administrative costs, lower patient bad debt and shorten your revenue cycle.

Available on the CIGNA for Health Care Professionals website (www.cignaforhcp.com), the CIGNA Cost of Care Estimator’s Explanation of Estimate (shown to the right) provides a simple, clear explanation of the key elements of payment for medical procedures and treatments, and is designed to correspond with the CIGNA Explanation of Benefits your patient receives.

Judi Lento, a Practice Administrator at Sekine, Rasner & Brock OB/GYN in Jacksonville, FL, finds value in printing out a CIGNA Explanation of Estimate for every  patient with a CIGNA administered medical plan. “Our patients really appreciate getting accurate information in advance, and the CIGNA Cost of Care Estimator has helped our practice save hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Lento. “The Estimator approach is truly revolutionary because unlike real-time claims adjudication, it does not require purchasing technology and re-keying information into our practice management system.”

Now Available for More Plans

The CIGNA Cost of Care Estimator is now available for your patients in CIGNA HMO and Network medical plans (HMO, Network-EPP, HMO Open Access, Network Open Access, HMO POS-Flex, Network POS-DPP, HMO POS Open Access and Network POS Open Access), and for patients in CIGNA PPO, EPO, Open Access Plus (OAP/OAPIN), and CIGNA Choice Fund^® plans. 

Start Using the CIGNA Cost of Care Estimator Today

To use the CIGNA Cost of Care Estimator, log in to the CIGNA for Health Care Professionals website (www.cignaforhcp.com), and click ‘Estimate Patient Liability.’ If you are not yet registered to use the website, visit www.cignaforhcp.com and click ‘Register Now’.

Expanded Access – Coming Soon

In addition to its availability on the CIGNA for Health Care Professionals website (www.cignaforhcp.com), the CIGNA Cost of Care Estimator will be available through multipayer websites later in 2011 (such as Availity, NaviNet, Passport Health Communications and RealMed). We’ll share more information about this expansion soon.

Featured Article

• Cultural Competency - Increase Quality of Care and Improve Patient Compliance

Policy Updates

• Clinical, Reimbursement and Administrative Policy Updates
• Evaluation and Management Coding Review
• Preventive Care Coverage Update

Electronic Tools

• New eCourse Available
• Receive Your CIGNA Remittance Reports Online
• Transparent Cost of Care

Pharmacy Updates

• CIGNA Pharmacy Step Therapy Program to Expand
• New Value Prescription Drug List Option

Integration Updates

• Network Differences
• Ancillary Vendor and Facility Referrals
• Claim and Service Channels
• Brand Changes
• Revised GWH-CIGNA ID Cards
• Updates to the Secured Provider Portal
• Secure Websites

General Updates

• Eligibility and Benefit Enhancements
• New CIGNA Paper Claim and Correspondence Addresses and Fax Numbers
• Urgent Care for Non-emergencies

Helpful Reminders

• Reference Guides Updated
• Tell Us What’s Changed
• Use the Network
• Tools for Improving Claim Processing
• Access the Archives
• Go Green - Go Electronic