UnityPoint Health Partners and UnitedHealthcare are collaborating to provide coordinated health care that improves care quality and reduces costs for more than 36,000 residents enrolled in UnitedHealthcare’s employer-sponsored health plans in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Waterloo and the Quad Cities.

This new accountable care organization (ACO) between UnityPoint Health Partners and UnitedHealthcare will help shift Iowa’s health care system from one based on volume of care to one that rewards quality and value. UnityPoint Health Partners’ network of physicians will manage all aspects of patients’ care, providing the right care in the right place at the right time.

The ACO will help participating physicians and hospitals improve transitions of care for patients and facilitate improved communication with all who are involved in a patient’s treatment. Primary care physicians in the ACO will receive regular patient updates, enabling them to monitor all of the care each patient is receiving, and maintain all clinical information about each patient in a secure patient registry.

UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored plan participants who are currently served by the participating care providers will not have to do anything differently to receive the benefits of this new ACO, which include enhanced care coordination and follow-up, beginning Oct. 1.

“Our culture is patient-centered and physician-led, and providers are encouraged to engage and participate in efforts to move us along our journey toward value-based care. The partnership with UnitedHealthcare will allow us to continue to move the dial in the areas of care coordination, transparency, improved quality, patient experience and overall value,” said Kevin Vermeer, Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer of UnityPoint Health and CEO of UnityPoint Health Partners. “UnityPoint Health Partners participates in several value-based arrangements. Regardless of where providers and physicians are in their journey toward value-based care, we have options for them to become involved.”

UnitedHealthcare and UnityPoint Health Partners 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.

“UnitedHealthcare continues to work with care providers statewide to help enhance health services and improve coordination of care for patients,” said Steve Walli, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Heartland States. “We believe our collaboration with UnityPoint Health Partners will deliver enhanced quality, better outcomes and greater efficiency for our health plan customers in these communities.”

UnitedHealthcare is working with thousands of physician groups, hospitals, medical centers and other health care providers across the country to place greater emphasis on rewarding care providers for better care, better health and lower costs.

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.

About UnityPoint Health
UnityPoint Health is one of the nation’s most integrated health systems. Our physician-led team of professionals communicates clearly and effectively to address a patient’s health care in the most appropriate setting: whether that is a clinic, a hospital or at home. Through relationships with more than 290 physician clinics, 32 hospitals in metropolitan and rural communities and home care services throughout its 9 regions, UnityPoint Health provides care throughout Iowa, Western Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

UnityPoint Health entities employ more than 28,000 employees, working toward innovative advancements to deliver the Best Outcome for Every Patient Every Time. Each year, through more than 4.5 million patient visits, UnityPoint Health, UnityPoint Clinic and UnityPoint at Home provides a full range of coordinated care to patients and families. With projected annual revenues of $3.7 billion, UnityPoint Health is the nation’s 13th largest nonprofit health system and the fourth largest nondenominational health system in America.

UnityPoint Health provides community benefit programs and services to improve the health of people in its communities.

UnityPoint Health Partners (www.unitypoint.org/aco) provides care throughout the regions of UnityPoint Health through relationships with approximately 2,500 independent and employed physicians and providers, hospitals in both metropolitan and rural communities as well as home care services throughout each of the 9 regions.

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.

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