UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute Receives Quality Recognition for Cancer Care

UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute is among four hospitals in New York state – and the only one in the Rochester region – to receive a Blue Distinction^® Center for Cancer Care designation as part of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield’s Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. The program is designed to help patients find quality specialty care from providers who demonstrate treatment expertise and achieve the best overall patient outcomes.

Wilmot received the designation for incorporating patient-centered and data-driven practices to better coordinate cancer care and improve quality and safety, under a value based payment model.

“We are dedicated to providing patients with the highest quality cancer care in the region. Receiving this designation is evidence of that dedication,” says Jonathan W. Friedberg, M.D., M.M.Sc., director of Wilmot Cancer Institute. “I’m proud of the work our faculty and staff do each day to ensure our patients do not need to travel and can receive world-class care here in Rochester."

More information is available at bcbs.com/bluedistinction.

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About Wilmot Cancer Institute: UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute is the Finger Lakes region’s leader for cancer care and research. As a component of Strong Memorial Hospital, Wilmot Cancer Institute provides specialty cancer care services at the University of Rochester Medical Center and a network of locations throughout the region. The Institute also includes a team of 100 scientists who investigate many aspects of cancer, with an emphasis on how best to provide precision cancer care. To learn more, visit wilmot.urmc.edu.

About Excellus BlueCross BlueShield: Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, a nonprofit independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is part of a family of companies that finances and delivers vital health care services to about 1.5 million people across upstate New York. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield provides access to high-quality, affordable health coverage, including valuable health-related resources that our members use every day, such as cost-saving prescription drug discounts and wellness tracking tools. To learn more, visit ExcellusBCBS.com.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 36 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide health care coverage for one in three Americans. BCBSA provides health care insights through The Health of America Report series and the national BCBS Health Index^sm. For more information on BCBSA and its member companies, please visit BCBS.com. We also encourage you to connect with us on Facebook, check out our videos on YouTube, follow us on Twitter and check out our blog.

About Blue Distinction Centers: Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures for patient safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community. A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for providers located in its own service area; for details, contact your Local Blue Plan. Blue Distinction Centers+ (BDC+) also met cost measures that address consumers’ need for affordable healthcare. Each provider’s cost of care is evaluated using data from its Local Blue Plan. Providers in CA, ID, NY, PA, and WA may lie in two Local Blue Plans’ areas, resulting in two evaluations for cost of care; and their own Local Blue Plans decide whether one or both cost of care evaluation(s) must meet BDC+ national criteria. National criteria for BDC and BDC+ are displayed on www.bcbs.com. Individual outcomes may vary. For details on a provider’s in-network status or your own policy’s coverage, contact your Local Blue Plan and ask your provider before making an appointment. Neither Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for non-covered charges or other losses or damages resulting from Blue Distinction or other provider finder information or care received from Blue Distinction or other providers.