BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina

South Carolina BlueCross to Receive National Technology Recognition

October 27, 2006

Columbia, S.C. -- The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) has selected BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina as the winner of its annual Leadership in Technology award.

WEDI is a broad-based, healthcare industry association headquartered in Reston, Va. that advises the federal government on healthcare technology issues. BlueCross will be given the award at the WEDI Fall Conference scheduled for November 6-9 in Phoenix, Ariz. The company is one of two organizations that will receive the award.

In addition to the company being honored, BlueCross BlueShield Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) program director, Jim Daley, will be given one of the WEDI Awards of Merit.

Both awards are given to recognize exemplary efforts to advance electronic data interchange and e-commerce technology in healthcare.

"BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina is applying technology in real day scenarios and demonstrates actual value in the technology they’ve developed," said James A. Schuping, WEDI executive vice president and CEO. "We are pleased to recognize the company for its efforts and Jim Daley for his many contributions made in support of WEDI's mission and overall activities."

Daley has served on the WEDI board of directors for several terms, is past vice chair of planning and operations and has led industry advisory groups on topics such as ICD-10 and HIPAA.

WEDI is recognizing BlueCross for development of self-service on its Web site, healthcare swipe card technology used in doctor’s offices, and real-time claims processing. Besides providing health insurance to South Carolinians, BlueCross provides business process outsourcing and application service provider services to other insurance companies and serves Medicare and TRICARE health plans.

Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.