Radiology provider Envision Healthcare signs in-network agreement with BCBS
Radiology provider Envision Healthcare has signed a multi-year, statewide agreement to keep its radiologists and other providers in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas.
The Nashville, Tennessee-based multispecialty group said the deal will provide millions of health plan holders in the Lone Star State with access to its physicians and other advanced-practice providers. Along with radiology, Envision provides care in anesthesiology, emergency and hospital medicine, neonatology, trauma and critical care.
“We are pleased to build on our relationship with BCBSTX to address the evolving needs of the Texas community as it continues growing,” Henry Howe, interim CEO of Envision, said in a Jan. 4 announcement. “We are committed to enhancing the health of the community, making sure patients can access the most clinically appropriate and affordable care when they need it.”
BCBS Texas is the state’s largest “customer owned” health insurer, also operating managed Medicare and Medicaid plans, according to the announcement. Envision, meanwhile, employed more than 17,000 clinicians as of last year, including 500 radiologists completing roughly 8 million reads. The company recently emerged from the bankruptcy process, and its CEO departed to join insurer Humana.
The agreement comes as radiology providers fight to remain in-network with health plans of choice in their service areas. Since the roll out of the No Surprises Act, commercial insurers have started terminating in-network contracts that involve higher than average reimbursement rates, according to S&P Global Ratings. UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest commercial insurer, knocked Envision out of its network at the end of 2020, citing “egregiously high rates.” Envision inked a similar deal with Florida health plan AvMed in May.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.