Blue Distinction^®

Blue Distinction recognizes facilities that meet objective, evidence-based thresholds for clinical quality, developed in collaboration with physicians and medical organizations. At the core of Blue Distinction are the Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care^®, providing you with a credible, easily identifiable means of selecting facilities that meet your individual health care needs.

Each Blue Distinction Center has demonstrated their commitment to quality care, resulting in better overall outcomes for patients. In determining the selection criteria, we collaborated with physician experts and medical organizations. Potential Blue Distinction Centers^® submit clinical data to establish that they meet the selection criteria, which include:

• An established program, performing required annual volumes for certain procedures
• Appropriate experience of its medical specialty team
• An acute care inpatient facility, including intensive care, emergency and specialty services
• Full facility accreditation by a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)-deemed national accreditation organization
• A comprehensive quality management program