PHN Goes Blue

As everyone else painted Maryland purple in support of the Baltimore Ravens, the Preferred Health Network (PHN) was going blue - not to cheer on the New York Giants, but as part of their new relationship with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst). As you may remember, CareFirst acquired PHN in the last quarter of 2000. Previously, CareFirst was the exclusive marketing partner of PHN, but since the company was not an affiliate of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, the regional HMO was unable to make full use of the "blue brand" to further its marketing efforts.

As part of the agreement with CareFirst, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association approved PHN as an HMO affiliate, and has granted the company full use of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols. PHN's new logo will now reflect the cross and shield symbols to clearly identify the relationship with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. "We believe this new logo strengthens PHN's position in the marketplace," says Shekar Subramaniam, Director of Broker Sales. "The cross and shield have long been recognized in the market as representative of quality health care coverage. We want to reinforce to consumers that PHN is indeed a quality health plan."