November 2009
Welcome to The Connection Online
The Connection Online offers additional news and articles not found in our printed newsletter, The ConnectionSM (PDF). We hope you find The Connection Online to be a helpful resource; and we encourage you to read the printed and online issues.
Beginning next year, our newsletter will only be published online. We will publish The Connection Online in February, April, June, August, October and December. Subscribe to receive email notifications when new editions are available.
Have feedback? Contact Provider Communications.
H1N1 vaccine administration: Regence to cover costs
Regence wants to remove any financial barriers associated with the administration of the H1N1 vaccine and to encourage members to get vaccinated. For a limited time, the costs associated with the administration of the H1N1 vaccine (e.g., copayments, deductibles and coinsurance) will be waived for all Regence members.
Interactive voice response available soon
On December 20, some of our Provider Customer Service phone lines will be upgraded to include a new service option: interactive voice response (IVR). This technology enables a computer to accept voice commands or touch-tone inputs and responds to your inquiries without having to speak with a Customer Service specialist.
Medicare compliance training required for Regence MedAdvantage providers
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations require compliance training for "first tier, downstream and related entities" of a Medicare Advantage plan.
WhatsTheRealCost.org launched
With health care costs rising twice as fast as inflation, Regence launched a Consumer Cost Education campaign earlier this year to educate people about the drivers of these costs.
News
Administrative and Billing Updates
Products and Networks
Policies
Join our medical policy discussions
We welcome your input and feedback as we draft our medical policies. It's easy to join our email reviewer list. Simply complete our request form.
While we prefer to receive input as policies are developed, we also have a formal process that allows physicians, other health care professionals and facilities to submit additional information, such as clinical trial results, that may warrant a policy review.
Updates to medication policies and list
Medication policies
Summaries of recent changes (PDF) and detailed policies are available in our Medication Policy Manual.
Preferred Medication List/Formulary (PML)
View our Preferred
Medication List/Formulary (PML) in alphabetical
order or by therapeutic
class.