Circle of Care - Integrated Medical/Disability Program

Who is Eligible to participate in the Circle of Care?

If you are enrolled in short-term disability, you can participate in the Circle of Care program.

What is Circle of Care?

Circle of Care is available to you at no cost through your Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas coverage. It combines the knowledge and personalized service of the Health Advocacy Team on the medical side with the disability team whose focus is on getting you healthy and back to work.

If you are experiencing a health issue, you can work with a health advocate to get answers to your health questions. A health advocate provides support and guidance on health and wellness issues.

In the case of a potential disability, your health advocate can work with a clinical case manager to:

• Help you understand your disability benefits
• Help process your disability claim
• With your permission, share medical information directly with the disability team to speed up review and decision on your claim**

When you opt-in to sharing your medical information between the health advocacy and disability teams, you can eliminate the time it takes to send your doctor paperwork, have them fill out information related to your condition and return it. The claims team will work directly with your health advocate to get information needed to evaluate your claim. That information could include diagnosis, test results and treatment your doctor recommends.

Working with a health advocate and sharing information across teams, you should: 

• Experience improved health outcomes using the knowledge and support of the health advocacy team
• Reduce stress with the support of your health advocate and assistance through the process
• Spend less time waiting for paperwork and coordination between the provider and disability teams for significantly faster claim processing
• Be able to focus attention where it matters most - on your health and recovery while protecting your income on short- or long-term disability leave

Why Should You Take Advantage of the Circle of Care?

You can trust that it is your health advocate's goal to get and keep you well and healthy. With their ability to identify a potential disability, to guide you through the claim process, and to pass along important medical information to the disability team, you will receive the most integrated and comprehensive care. In fact, once you've been on disability leave, if a disability team member believes you could benefit from additional support, they can refer you back to your health advocate for follow up.

Circle of Care takes a holistic approach to meeting your individual needs including: 

• Early identification and intervention to prevent or minimize a disability
• Education and guidance to empower you in managing your injury or illness
• Disease management intervention to improve the treatment of any chronic conditions you may have
• A team effort to support you throughout your health journey

If you are enrolled for short-term disability coverage, are losing time from work, and would like to speak with a clinical case manager, please call* 1-800-882-2034. They are available Monday - Friday, 7am to 7pm (CST). The clinical case manager is a registered nurse who will be happy to answer your questions.

If you would like to opt-in to sharing your medical information as part of the claim process sign the Authorization to Exchange Medical Information for Claim Administration and return it to the claim intake specialist. The intake specialist can answer any questions you have about the sharing of medical information and they can also provide you the form via email.

Related Documents:

• Integrated Medical Disability Flyer
• Filing your Short-Term Disability Claim

* For medical emergencies, call 911. Health advocates do not provide medical advice and do not take the place of a doctor's care. Talk to your health care professional about any health questions or concerns.

** Medical information sharing as part of the Circle of Care may not apply to every claim.