UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC. UnitedHealthcare, Centura Health and Colorado Health Neighborhoods – Centura Health’s provider network of more than 2,500 employed and independent affiliated physicians – are collaborating to provide coordinated health care that improves quality and reduces costs for nearly 17,000 UnitedHealthcare plan participants in the state.
This new accountable care organization (ACO) will help shift Colorado’s health care system from one based on volume of care to one that rewards quality and value. Colorado Health Neighborhoods’ network of providers will manage all aspects of patients’ care, providing the right care in the right place at the right time. Primary care physicians in the ACO will receive regular patient updates, enabling them to monitor all of the care each patient is receiving, and to maintain all clinical information about each patient in a secure patient registry.
UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored plan participants who are currently served by Colorado Health Neighborhoods care providers will not have to do anything differently to receive the benefits of this new model, which include enhanced care coordination and follow-up.
“Colorado Health Neighborhoods is pleased to enter into a population health management opportunity with UnitedHealthcare,” said John Suits, executive director, Colorado Health Neighborhoods. “ACO opportunities such as this partnership with UnitedHealthcare strengthen our efforts to optimize value for all of Colorado. The collaboration will achieve this shift in volume to value by leveraging the population health management skills and resources both organizations bring to the table to enhance the consumer’s health care experience while lowering the total cost of care.”
UnitedHealthcare, Centura Health and Colorado Health Neighborhoods will coordinate evidence-based care, ensuring that the primary care physicians, specialists and facilities are aligned with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI’s) “Triple Aim” objective: increase patient satisfaction, improve the health of the population and reduce the cost of health care.
Care providers will be eligible for payment incentives based on meaningful improvements in measures such as hospital readmission rates, disease management and prevention, patient safety and care delivery, as well as total cost savings and patient satisfaction.
“UnitedHealthcare continues to work with care providers statewide to help enhance health services and improve coordination of care for patients,” said Beth Soberg, president and CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Colorado. “We believe our collaboration with Centura Health and Colorado Health Neighborhoods will deliver enhanced quality, better outcomes and greater efficiency for our health plan customers statewide.”
This new ACO relationship is the latest in a series of partnerships UnitedHealthcare has launched in Colorado, all aimed at increasing quality and coordinated care. UnitedHealthcare recently announced similar arrangements with three other care provider networks in the Denver area.
Nationwide, more than $31 billion of UnitedHealthcare’s annual physician and hospital reimbursements are tied to accountable care programs, centers of excellence and performance-based programs. The company projects this will reach $65 billion by 2018. For more information about UnitedHealthcare’s accountable care initiatives, visit www.AccountableCareAnswers.com.
UnitedHealthcare serves more than 1.1 million people in Colorado with a care provider network of 100 hospitals and more than 13,500 physicians statewide.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 800,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves more than 45 million people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.
About Centura Health
Centura Health connects individuals, families and neighborhoods across Colorado and western Kansas with more than 6,000 physicians and 17,100 of the best hearts and minds in health care. Through our 15 hospitals, six senior living communities, health neighborhoods, physician practices and clinics, home care and hospice services, and Flight For Life® Colorado, we are making the region’s best health care accessible and affordable in every community we serve. We believe you can inspire the people you care about to live healthier lives by encouraging them to do the little things that can make a big difference. We’re Centura Health, and we’re here for your health. For information about Centura Health or any of the facilities in our network, please visit www.centura.org.
About Colorado Health Neighborhoods
Colorado Health Neighborhoods is Centura Health’s physician-led network of providers comprised of more than 2,500 employed and independent affiliated physicians dedicated to developing a clinically integrated network that delivers optimal health care value to consumers and the communities served. Colorado Health Neighborhoods is creating a system that promotes proactive coordination among providers to produce demonstrably improved health outcomes at an affordable cost in a more convenient, service-oriented setting. Leveraging a partnership with Centura Health, the region’s leading health care network, Colorado Health Neighborhoods has the resources to deliver on its vision for the future of health care. For more information, visit www.coloradohealthneighborhoods.org.
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