As A Reminder, Find Blue Cross And Blue Shield Doctors And Clinics For Free With The Official App
July 23, 2011
As a helpful extension for members, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association released an official clinic search app to the App Store a few months ago. The Blue National Doctor and Hospital Finder provides Blue Cross and Blue Shield members a quick and easy way to find a physician and clinic when in an unfamiliar area.
Blue National Doctor and Hospital Finder is the BCBS website search tool reformed into a helpful step-by-step app that you can access from your iDevice without needing to wait for web pages to load.
To best assist you in locating provider covered medical treatment, the app has a few ways to narrow down search results, beyond the typical distance from current location. Anyone who has their BCBS member card handy can enter in the prefix at the main menu, which narrows down results to only those providers who cover treatment under your subscribed plan. Otherwise, guest access has you pick either traditional membership or the more stringent preferred provider organization or exclusive provider organization plan results.
I'm guessing most won't use the name search field, but it is there if you want to find a physician or clinic that you recall at least a partial name of, but don't remember the full name, address, or phone number. Most likely, you will be selecting the "Accepting New Patients" option, maybe adjusting the distance setting, and initiating the search. It's noted several times throughout the app, however, I'll remind that the BCBS doesn't guarantee 100% up-to-date database information.
If you'd like to save the information for later use or share it with a friend, Blue National Doctor and Hospital Finder offers three different ways for you to retain and distribute the information using a few simple taps. At the bottom of search results there is an "Email Results' button to create a text only email message of the entire results list. At the top-right of the physician or clinic details page exists an action button to save the entry to your address book, email it, or send it using a text message (SMS).
The app does have one final feature that you can find quickly on the main screen and during the early search steps, and that is "Find Nearest Urgent Care." Although titled "urgent care," it's something that should be used in a case where immediate medical attention is required but non-life threatening, such as a broken bone. The "Urgent Care" search disregards plans and displays all BCBS providers that offer walk-in immediate care services.
Blue National Doctor and Hospital Finder is designed for iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 3.0 or later, and is available in the App Store as a free download.
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