Village Health Partners and Cigna Start Accountable Care Program to Improve Health Outcomes and Lower Costs
Cigna (NYSE:CI) and Village
Health Partners, a nationally-recognized primary care practice
serving more than 40,000 patients throughout North Texas through two
locations, have launched a collaborative
accountable care initiative to expand patient access to
health care, improve care coordination, and achieve the “triple
aim” of improved health outcomes (quality), affordability
and patient satisfaction.
Collaborative accountable care is Cigna's approach to
accomplishing the same population health goals as accountable care
organizations, or ACOs. The program will benefit individuals
covered by a Cigna health plan who receive care from a Village Health
Partners physician. The program with Village Health Partners is Cigna's
third such collaboration in North Texas and its sixth in the state.
“As a primary care practice, nothing is more important to our
organization than helping the communities we serve thrive by engaging
our patients through preventive care and education,” said Dr.
Christopher Crow, co-founder of Village Health Partners. “Cigna's
commitment to changing the paradigm from volume to value fits with the
vision we have at Village Health Partners.”
Under the program, Village Health Partners monitors and coordinates all
aspects of an individual’s medical care. Patients continue to go to
their current physician and automatically receive the benefits of the
program. Individuals who are enrolled in a Cigna health plan and later
choose to seek care from a doctor in the medical group will also have
access to the benefits of the program. There are no changes in any plan
requirements regarding referrals to specialists. Patients most likely to
see the immediate benefits of the program are those who need help
managing chronic conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease.
Critical to the program’s benefits are clinical care coordinators,
employed by Village Health Partners, who help patients with chronic
conditions or other health challenges navigate the health care system.
The care coordinators are aligned with a team of Cigna case managers to
ensure a high degree of collaboration between the medical group and
Cigna that ultimately results in a better experience for the individual.
The care coordinators will enhance care by using patient-specific data
from Cigna to help identify patients being discharged from the hospital
who might be at risk for readmission, as well as patients who may be
overdue for important health screenings or who may have skipped a
prescription refill. The care coordinators are part of the physician-led
care team that helps patients get the follow-up care or screenings they
need, identifies potential complications related to medications and
helps prevent chronic conditions from worsening.
Care coordinators can also help patients schedule appointments, provide
health education and refer patients to Cigna's clinical programs, such
as disease management programs for diabetes, heart disease and other
conditions; and lifestyle management programs, such as programs for
tobacco cessation, weight management and stress management.
Cigna will compensate Village Health Partners for the medical and care
coordination services it provides. Additionally, the medical group may
be rewarded through a “pay for performance” structure if it meets
targets for improving quality and lowering medical costs.
“Cigna's collaborative accountable care program aims to change the U.S.
health care system from one that emphasizes the amount of care that
doctors deliver to one that emphasizes the quality of that care,” said
Dr. Frederick Watson, Cigna’s senior medical director for North Texas.
“A patient-centered system that’s focused on prevention and wellness,
and that rewards doctors for value rather than volume of services, will
ultimately result in a healthier population and lower medical costs,
which is good for individuals, families, employers and doctors.”
The principles of the patient-centered medical home are the foundation
of Cigna's collaborative accountable care initiatives. Cigna then builds
on that foundation with a strong focus on collaboration and
communication with physician practices. Cigna is now engaged in 52
collaborative accountable care initiatives in 22 states,
encompassing nearly 510,000 Cigna customers and more than 14,000
doctors, including more than 6,500 primary care physicians and more than
7,500 specialists. Cigna launched its first collaborative accountable
care program in 2008 and its goal is to have 100 of them in place with
one million customers by the end of 2014.
About Village Health Partners
Founded in 2007, Village Health Partners is a nationally-recognized
primary medical practice serving more than 40,000 North Texas patients
through two locations in Plano, Texas. Village Health Partners focuses
on the quality, access and convenience of care for its patients. The
practice is dedicated to helping the communities it serves thrive, by
offering access to unsurpassed value in healthcare delivery. Village
Health Partners and its physicians have been recognized by Congress for
their efforts to improve healthcare and have received numerous awards
including “Practice of the Year,” by Physicians Practice, The Davies
Award by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
(HIMSS). Village Health Partners was the first practice in North Texas
to achieve the National Center for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA) Patient
Centered Medical Home Certification as well as Excellence in Diabetes
Care. The practice has been repeatedly recognized for Best Doctors in
Family Medicine by D Magazine and Texas Monthly. To learn more visit www.villagehealthpartners.com.
About Cigna
Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI) is a global health service company
dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense
of security. All products and services are provided exclusively by or
through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, including
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Cigna Health and Life
Insurance Company, Life Insurance Company of North America and Cigna
Life Insurance Company of New York. Such products and services include
an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental,
behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, supplemental benefits, and other
related products including group life, accident and disability
insurance. Cigna maintains sales capability in 30 countries and
jurisdictions, and has approximately 71 million customer relationships
throughout the world. To learn more about Cigna®, including links to
follow us on Facebook or Twitter, visit www.cigna.com.
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