Blue Distinction Centers®

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, in partnership with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, has developed Blue Distinction Centers. Each Center has been selected through a rigorous evaluation of clinical data that provides insight into the facility's structures, processes and outcomes of care. These nationally established criteria were developed with input from medical experts and organizations and support the consistent, objective assessment of specialty care capabilities.

Blue Distinction Centers for Cardiac Care^®

Blue Distinction Centers for cardiac care provide a full range of cardiac care services, including inpatient cardiac care, cardiac rehabilitation, cardiac catheterization (Including percutaneous coronary interventions) and cardiac surgery (including coronary artery bypass graft surgery)1. These facilities must meet stringent quality criteria, as established by expert physician panels and national organizations.

View a full program description and selection criteria .

If you are seeking care in a state other than Texas, you may take advantage of the Blue Distinction Centers for Cardiac Care. You can find these centers by going to the BlueCard Doctor and Hospital Finder .

Blue Distinction Centers for Cardiac Care Frequently Asked Questions 

Blue Distinction Centers for Complex and Rare Cancers^® 

Complex and rare cancers comprise approximately 15 percent of new cancer cases each year. Blue Distinction Centers for Complex and Rare Cancers^® are the first in a line of Blue Distinction Centers^® focused on cancer treatment.

This initial phase evaluates facilities on patient assessment, treatment planning, complex inpatient care and major surgical treatments for adults; all delivered by teams with distinguished expertise and subspecialty training for complex and rare cancers. The program focuses on the following 13 cancers:

Blue Distinction Centers for Complex and Rare Cancers were developed in strategic collaboration with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)* and with input from a panel of leading clinicians. The evidence-based selection criteria used for determining Blue Distinction Centers for Complex and Rare Cancers include:

• exceeds volume threshold for annual surgical cases treated
• utilization of multidisciplinary team input for treatment planning, including sub-specialty trained teams
• participation in ongoing quality management and improvement programs for cancer care
• commitment to using clinical data registries and participating in relevant clinical research

Blue Cross and Blue Shield recognizes that the majority of patients' multidisciplinary treatment may be best accomplished by integrating the expertise available in a Blue Distinction Center with locally available treatment resources, especially for outpatient chemotherapy and radiotherapy, based on individual circumstances and patient preference. Optimal support of a patient's comprehensive cancer care needs may be achieved by coordination of care between the patient and their family, local physicians, the Blue Distinction Center and their local Blue Cross and Blue Shield company.

View a full program description and selection criteria .

If you are seeking care in a state other than Texas, you may take advantage of the Blue Distinction Centers for Complex and Rare Cancers. You can find these centers by going to the BlueCard Doctor and Hospital Finder .

Blue Distinction Centers for Knee and Hip Replacement^® 

Blue Distinction Centers for Knee and Hip Replacement provide comprehensive inpatient knee and hip replacement services, including total knee replacement and total hip replacement surgeries.

View a full program description and selection criteria .

Blue Distinction Centers for Spine Surgery^®
Blue Distinction Centers for Spine Surgery provide comprehensive inpatient spine surgery services, including discectomy, fusion and decompression procedures.

View a full program description and selection criteria .

Blue Distinction Centers for Transplants^®
The Blue Distinction Centers for transplants program examines 8 transplant types:

• heart
• lung (deceased and living donor)
• combination heart bilateral lung
• liver (deceased and living donor)
• simultaneous pancreas kidney (SPK)
• pancreas (PAK/PTA)
• combination liver kidney
• bone marrow/stem cell (autologous & allogeneic)

View a full program description and selection criteria .

If you are seeking care in a state other than Texas, you may take advantage of the Blue Distinction Centers for Transplants. You can find these centers by going to the BlueCard Doctor and Hospital Finder .

Blue Distinction Centers for Transplants Frequently Asked Questions 

Blue Distinction Centers for Bariatric Surgery^®

¹At the discretion of the local BCBS Plan and under a specified exceptions process, a facility that provides the full range of cardiac services but does not provide on-site CABG surgery may be considered for designation if it is part of a cooperative system with a qualifying facility that provides emergency backup CABG for PCI and meets the exceptions criteria. Blue Distinction Centers for cardiac care without on-site CABG will be differentiated from full-service Blue Distinction Centers for cardiac care in program listings

Note:  Designation as Blue Distinction Centers means that these facilities' overall experience and aggregate data met objective criteria established in collaboration with expert clinicians' and leading professional organizations’ recommendations.  Individual outcomes may vary.  To find out which services are covered under your policy at these or any other facilities, please call your local Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Plan; and please call your provider before making an appointment, to verify the most current information on their Network participation status.  Neither Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any of its Licensees are responsible for any damages, losses, or non-covered charges that may result from using this Web site or receiving care from a provider listed in this Web site.