Established in 2016, the Oakland Promise works to ensure that every child in the city graduates high school with the expectations, resources, and skills to complete college and be successful in the career of his or her choice.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, the national organization of Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates around the country, features Wellvolution, the wellness program available to members and employees of Blue Shield of California.

Blue Shield of California began its aggressive transformation toward value-based care years ago. Yet when CEO Paul Markovich hired me last year as the company’s first chief innovation officer, my mission was clear: go bigger, bolder, faster, Jeff Semenchuk says.

About the size of a voting booth, this self-serve kiosk gives patients’ blood-pressure readings in about 60 seconds. It was installed in the clinic last spring as part of a Blue Shield of California – American Heart Association collaboration, just a few months after Anderson’s stroke. Since then nearly 600 people have been screened, with more than three-quarters of them discovering they have full-blown hypertension or elevated blood pressure.

Blue Shield of California on Monday announced Blue Sky, a multi-year effort in collaboration with the California Department of Education and nonprofit organizations such as Wellness Together, National Alliance on Mental Illness and DoSomething.org. The goal of the initiative is to enhance awareness, advocacy and access to mental health resources for California’s middle- and high school students. Blue Sky will target schools in San Diego and Oakland.

The statistics on the worsening condition of adolescent mental health are startling. According to important research published earlier this year by the American Psychological Association, the percentage of young Americans experiencing major mental health problems, including depression and suicidal thoughts, has risen significantly over the past decade.

Blue Shield of California is launching BlueSky, a multi-year effort in collaboration with the California Department of Education and nonprofit organizations such as Wellness Together, National Alliance on Mental Illness and DoSomething.org.