All state employees receive their health insurance benefits through Blue Cross Blue Shield, meaning that thousands of taxpayer-funded plans were effectively useless since Oct. 5 in parts of Western North Carolina where Mission Health is the dominant provider.

Mission and Blue Cross announced a new contract agreement on Dec. 5 in a joint statement, saying "both parties are pleased to reach agreement on the mutual goal of ensuring that the people of Western North Carolina receive the affordable, quality health care that they need." The new agreement will take effect on Friday, Dec. 15. Hundreds of thousands of Blue Cross customers were unable to use their insurance plans at Mission Health facilities when a contract between the hospital and the insurer expired in October, leading to several rounds of negotiations and both sides publicly trading barbs about which organizations was holding up a new agreement.  Read more here. 

Electronic health record (EHR) systems have been a challenge for many healthcare professionals in terms of systems not being user-friendly, a lack of interoperability and the concern that the patient-clinician relationship is being compromised as health professionals spend more time looking at computer screens and less time interacting with patients. However, EHRs have the ability to coordinate care for individuals, improve health for populations, increase efficiency, and reduce healthcare costs. EHRs are only able to deliver on this promise if they work effectively for all healthcare professionals. Unfortunately, the current manner in which some EHRs are designed and implemented have instituted additional barriers to efficient, cost-effective high quality care.  Read more here.