Paradise Medical Group (PMG)

In September 2018, Blue Shield engaged with Paradise Medical Group (PMG) in Butte County to participate in a pilot project to test different health care delivery and payment mechanisms. The pilot was also designed to test new technologies and practice workflows in a rural area to inform our policies and practices.

In early November 2018, the Camp Fire struck, devastating the Paradise communityand killing 85 people. Blue Shield shifted into philanthropic mode – as did many others to support the community at a time of great need – to ensure that PMG could survive.

Blue Shield of California donated nearly $2 million to help restore health care delivery and other services in response to the fires, helping doctors connect with their patients – even helping to rebuild the clinic in Paradise.

“Every Californian needs and deserves access to health care. Our vision for the future of health care in California includes vibrant services in Butte County,” said Paul Markovich, President and CEO, Blue Shield of California.

Blue Shield remained engaged with PMG to help the practice rebuild to meet the needs of the dispersed population and started by building out extensive telehealth capabilities to enable access to care.Collaborating with the vendor, Blue Shield built a new care-delivery service that allows residents to visit withParadise Medical Group physicians via smart phone, personal computer or telephone. The “e-visit” service provided the physicians much-needed tools to care for their patients, many of whom have dispersed into neighboring communities.

“The virtual care products gave us the opportunity to reinvent the future of primary care in Paradise. We would not be in a position to face a new future without the assistance of Blue Shield.”– Richard Thorp, M.D. President &CEO, Paradise Medical Group.

This is an example of Blue Shield’s Health Reimagined initiative that uses latest innovations to improve the health of individuals and communities.