Your husband is having a diagnostic procedure on Friday and you need to know more about what to expect following the procedure. Your baby has diarrhea and you need to know if this requires a call to your physician. You were just diagnosed with heart disease and you need information about how to change your diet. It's 3 am, you are on vacation, and your child has a stomach ache and neither one of you is getting any sleep.
Where can you go to get assistance and answers to your questions? Blue Health Connection. You can call the Blue Health Connection number on the back of your ID card, 1.888.BLUE.432 or 1.888.258.3432, to get free telephone nurse assistance from registered nurses, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
You can also go online for assistance about non-emergency conditions, information about medical treatment and diagnostic tests, and general health information using the Blue Health Connection feature under Health and Wellness on our web site.
What Is Blue Health Connection?
Blue Health Connection is a nurse triage system, not just the opinion of someone on the phone. Specially trained registered nurses (RNs) ask you a series of questions that have been prepared and agreed upon by doctors and specialists across the country. Based on your responses, the nurse will quickly assess the situation and help you decide on the most appropriate care or provide assistance on how to take care of the situation at home. The nurse may suggest you call your physician or go to the emergency room or urgent care facility, or provide self-help tips you can use at home. The nurse will even call you back just to check on how you or your family member is feeling.
Blue Health Connection does not replace your physician. It is a service that you can call to help you assess your condition and to help you with your medical care choices. After assessing your condition, the nurse may even suggest that you call your physician to make an appointment during normal business hours. The nurses can refer you to specialists and to Preferred physicians and hospital when you are away from home.
Blue Health Connection is fast. And the faster you get answers, the faster you will feel better.
If your situation is life-threatening or limb-threatening, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room facility.
Blue Health Connection Online
Blue Health Connection online provides the opportunity to get the answers to your non-emergency questions by sending an email to a nurse or by using the online research information.
- The Ask Our Nurse feature lets you email questions about a condition, symptoms, treatments, diagnostic tests, etc to our registered nurses through a secure and confidential messaging system. You will get a personalized response to your email within 24 hours.
- The Online Symptom Adviser asks you a series of very specific questions about your condition. The Adviser uses the same logic as your doctor or nurse uses to evaluate your condition. Based on your answers, the Adviser will give a recommendation for the right medical care, from calling an ambulance to following self-care instructions at home.
- The Clinical Reference System (CRS) provides information and illustrations for thousands of medical conditions, surgical procedures and medications. The articles are written and reviewed by health care professionals. If you are having a specific diagnostic procedure such as a colonoscopy, you can get information about the procedure, how to prepare for the procedure and what to expect after the procedure. The CRS is divided into Behavioral, Adult, Pediatric, Senior, Sports Medicine, and Eye medical needs. There are over 3,000 topics and the information is available in English and Spanish.
- The Audio Health Library allows you to read or listen to information about hundreds of health related topics.
- The Condition Center provides resources for in-depth information about heart disease, heart failure, diabetes, and asthma. The services described in this section are designed to work with the medical care prescribed by your physician.
- The Health Tracker provides a confidential place to store and track your family's health information, such as blood pressure measurements, cholesterol readings, blood sugar numbers, and eye exams. You can also print the Tracker information to take with you to your doctor appointments.
We hope you will take a minute to check out all of the information available under Blue Health Connection online.
And the next time you need help with a medical related question, call Blue Health Connection, your number for free help with your medical questions.