Blue Distinction Centers+ are healthcare facilities and providers recognized for their expertise and efficiency in delivering specialty care. Quality is key: only those healthcare facilities that first meet Blue Distinction’s nationally established, objective quality measures are considered for designation as a Blue Distinction Center+.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association enhanced its quality evaluation for the Maternity Care program to address key factors driving the United States maternal health crisis, such as preventable or treatable pregnancy-related conditions, high utilization of Caesarean sections and racial and ethnic disparities in maternal healthcare.

Overall, cost of care episodes for vaginal and cesarean births at BDC+ facilities are 20% less than those at non-Blue Distinction Centers+ facilities. The rates of Episiotomies were 49% less those at Blue Distinction Centers (BDC and BDC+) than at those at non-Blue Distinction Centers (BDC and BDC+). In 2018, BDC/BDC+ facilities across the country cared for more than 40% of Blue Cross and Blue Shield commercially insured women giving birth.