KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 12 -- DST Output has signed a contract with Blue Shield of California to provide printing and distribution of the health plan's new member collateral. The five-year contract is designed to consolidate Blue Shield's in-house printing capabilities and reduce its overall production and distribution costs by as much as $2 million. DST Output, which was recently named one of the "Top Ten Plants in North America" by Industry Week magazine, is expected to print, mail and electronically post more than two million statements and other Blue Shield member communications per month from its El Dorado Hills facility. DST Output already has been instrumental in providing more than 350,000 new California Public Employee Retirement Systems (CalPERS) members with critical Blue Shield member information. "We knew that it was critical to get these newly enrolled CalPERS members their Blue Shield information as quickly as possible," said Bernie O'Connor, executive vice president of national sales at DST Output. "We met their timeframe, quality and internal software requirements." Blue Shield of California will utilize the full range of DST Output's integrated print and electronic solutions to provide its members with ID cards, explanations of benefits (EOBs), claim checks and electronic statements and payments. DST Output was able to win this important business in part because of its enhanced technology and check processing security, and its ability to address Blue Shield's HIPAA requirements and provide an operational disaster recovery plan. Mike Gianoni, senior vice president of National Client Services / Customer Solutions for DST Output added, "We are looking forward to adding additional ID card markets in the next few months and converting the vast majority of Blue Shield's output products within the next year."