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Press Release

Independence Blue Cross Salutes Nurses During National Nurses Week

IBC's programs, scholarships help address nursing shortage

Philadelphia, PA - May 10, 2006 - Independence Blue Cross (IBC) has significantly increased its support of a novel program to address the critical shortage of nurses in the Philadelphia region.

IBC and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation (PHEF) will dedicate a total of $9.5 million through the year 2010 to the Nurse Scholars Program, an unusual initiative created in 2004 by IBC in response to the severe threat posed by the current nursing shortage to the quality and cost of health care in southeastern Pennsylvania.

The expansion of the Nurse Scholars Program salutes the 2.7 million registered nurses nationwide and the critical contributions they make to quality patient care during National Nurses Week, May 6 to 12.

"Last year, U.S. nursing schools turned away more than 145,000 qualified applications, mostly because they didn't have enough faculty to accept more students," said Joseph A. Frick, IBC president and CEO. "Our Nurse Scholars Program is a unique model - it focuses not only on putting more nursing students in the pipeline, but it also widens the pipeline by adding nursing professors too. And more qualified nurses mean better, less costly, safer health care for us all."

IBC's Nurse Scholar Program provides much-needed financial assistance to aspiring nurse educators and undergraduate nursing students to help stem the critical shortage of nurses and nurse educators. By 2005, IBC had awarded $2 million for more than 1,200 scholarships at 28 accredited area nursing programs in southeastern Pennsylvania. The program also includes an internship program for nursing students. This year, the program will be expanded to include a second internship program and an initiative to fund faculty positions at area nursing schools.

The Nurse Scholars program was the recipient of the America's Health Insurance Plans Foundation Community Leadership Award in March of this year, and was presented with the National League for Nursing Award for Public Service in 2005.

The nursing shortage problem is serious and growing:

  • The Bureau of Health Professions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that almost a million registered nurse positions will be vacant in America by the year 2020.

  • Pennsylvania is fifth in the nation for projected nursing shortages, and will have an estimated 30 percent gap by 2020 between the number of nurses needed in hospitals and those that are available, according to 2004 reports from the PA Health Department and the PA Legislative Budget and Finance Committee.

  • The nursing shortage is exacerbated by the lack of nurse educators. In 2005, nursing schools were forced to reject 147,000 qualified applications, mostly due to limited faculty, clinical sites and classroom space, according to a report by the National League for Nursing.

  • Having adequate nursing staff can save thousands of lives and millions of dollars each year. According to a study published in the January/February 2006 journal Health Affairs, more than 6,700 patient deaths and four million days of care in hospitals could be avoided each year if hospitals increased nursing staffing and hours of nursing care per patient.

As part of the Nurse Scholars Program, IBC will continue for the second year the IBC Nurse Internship Program, which will run from June 12 through August 4. This internship at IBC helps nursing students apply the clinical lessons learned in the classroom in the real world of health care administration and managed care. This year, 10 undergraduate students from seven local schools of nursing - Brandywine School of Nursing, Community College of Philadelphia, Eastern University, La Salle University, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University and Widener University - will work in various health services departments at IBC. Ten students participated in the pilot program last year.

This summer, IBC will expand the Nurse Scholars Program by piloting a second internship program - the IBC Charitable Medical Care Grant Nurse Internship. This internship program will give nursing students practical, clinical experience at area nonprofit clinics that provide free or low-cost care to uninsured and underinsured people. IBC is the first insurer to provide this type of program. The clinics involved in the internships received grants from the IBC Charitable Medical Care Grant Program, which provides financial support to help local clinics provide comprehensive, continuous care to more than 60,000 low-income patients annually. IBC expects to place about 12 interns in a dozen clinics.

Also this year, IBC and PHEF will add to the Nurse Scholars Program a five-year, $2.5 million initiative to fund nursing faculty positions, teaching assistantships and other support at area nursing schools. Each year through 2010, five schools will receive $100,000 each, of which $50,000 will go to the faculty position named the "IBC Nurse Faculty Chair."

Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurer in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Nationwide, IBC and its affiliates provide coverage to nearly 3.4 million people. For more than 65 years, Independence Blue Cross has offered quality health care products and services tailored to meet the changing needs of members, employers, groups and providers.

Independence Blue Cross recently received the highest ratings from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for its HMO and PPO health care plans. In addition, in 2005, Independence Blue Cross's Personal Choice was rated the No. 1 PPO in the nation and its Keystone HMO was ranked the No. 1 HMO in the region by health care consumers in a leading independent consumer magazine.