CareFirst received two “Best of the Blues” awards presented annually by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Selected from more than 100 competing entries, the awards recognized the company’s success in launching CareFirst BlueChoice, a new regional HMO, and for introducing Senior Rx, a subsidized prescription drug plan for Maryland seniors. CareFirst’s Federal Employee Plan (FEP) division received a fifth consecutive “High Performance/ Low Cost” award presented annually by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association in recognition of the division’s claims processing efficiency. The CareFirst FEP Plan, the largest health care plan for employees of the federal government, serves more than 532,000 members. CareFirst Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Delaware received an FEP Benefit Costs Profile Award and a second place Marketing Award for net enrollment growth. CareFirst took first, third and fifth place awards in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s annual assessment of positive “Member Experience.” The assessments measure how well all Blues plans throughout the United States interact with and meet the needs of their members. Two physicians who are members of CareFirst affiliate physicians groups gained special recognition in 2002. Dr. Yvette Oquendo, M.D., of Potomac Physicians, P.A., was named “Doctor of the Year” by the Maryland Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. R. Scott Strahlman, M.D., pediatrics department chief with the Patuxent Medical Group (PMG) affiliate in Columbia, Maryland, was chosen by Baltimore Magazine as one of the Baltimore area’s “Top Docs.” For the sixth consecutive year, CareFirst was awarded the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s prestigious Brand Excellence Award. Only one other Blues Plan in the nation has ever won this coveted award more than CareFirst.