Notice: (May 6, 2026)
We’re transitioning to a new data set and methodology and will have more updated information soon.
The Premera Premier Provider (3P) program evaluates provider quality and affordability across various specialties, including primary care and pediatrics. The 3P program uses methodology consistent with national and industry standards to measure and designate high-performing providers.
Our 3P program aims to:
- Help members easily identify providers who deliver high quality care at a lower cost.
- Help employers ensure their employees have access to a national provider data set across geographies, based on affordability and quality.
The 3P program evaluates local and national providers within the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and only designates providers at the individual level. When a provider practices in multiple locations, performance data from those locations are combined. Physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and advanced practitioners are only evaluated on affordability. Providers must meet the minimum threshold of cased needed to be evaluated.
Affordability
The affordability designation evaluates the provider's healthcare spending incurred during procedure episodes of care. The measurement focuses on the ratio of the observed cost to the expected cost for each provider. Most specialty types are evaluated using episode cost of care measures. Primary care and pediatric providers are evaluated using a total cost of care measure. Providers may receive a high-performance designation if they meet the following requirements:
Quality
The quality designation evaluates the provider's avoidance of complications, adherence to guideline-directed care, and eliminations of unnecessary care. The measures' applied focus on the provider's practice patterns that have the potential for both patient hard and avoidable use of high-cost resources, including where care variations exist among providers.
Examples of measures include:
- Adherence to guideline-directed care for heart failure
- Coronary bypass graft completion rate
- Mitral valve repair complication rate
- Pulmonary function testing overuse before cardiac surgery
- Cardia rehabilitation underuse after cardiac surgery
- Physical therapy underuse before lumbar surgery