Intralign Health inks physician participation agreement with CareFirst

Intralign Health, LLC, a specialty healthcare services provider, announced today that it has signed a physician participation agreement with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) a not-for-profit health insurer serving approximately 3.4 million individuals. The agreement allows Surgical First Assistants (SFAs) in-network status for their support of surgeons in Maryland hospitals. This agreement fosters increased utilization of surgeon extenders to reduce surgery time and increase operating room (OR) throughputs without compromising care quality.

The use of SFAs in surgery has increased as the need for more efficient use of surgeon resources has grown. Across the country, certified SFAs (typically MDs or Certified Pas) are increasingly playing a critical role in mitigating the resource crisis in healthcare. SFAs enable hospitals to conduct more surgeries with fewer resources.

Utilizing an SFA during surgery reduces procedure time and increases surgical quality without adding cost to the system. The patient benefits from added expertise in the OR and overall costs to the insured are reduced.