Battlefield New Jersey

Although hard-nosed in its impact on New Jersey providers, the Blues strategy in this state is very coherent. Sure, there was a strong reaction from physicians and hospitals and a lot of emotionalism. But here we have a good example of a decisive insurer leveraging a dominant market position. Perhaps a year from now we'll see whether any of the recent provider organizing attempts have been successful in countering the Blues. The April 1993 decision by BCBSNJ to eliminate a third of its contract hospitals and physicians was the catalyst for transforming this state. The organizing attempts of physicians and hospitals catalyzed BCBS to enter the delivery side. But, its possible that the information network venture could bring these waring parties back together. Who knows at this point? The key to success of any strategy is how well it is implemented.