Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance (BSWQA) and UnitedHealthcare are
collaborating to improve care coordination and enhance health services
for more than 52,000 North Texas residents enrolled in
UnitedHealthcare’s employer-sponsored health plans.
BSWQA is an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) established in 2011 as
part of Baylor Scott & White Health’s strategy to improve health care
delivery. BSWQA’s network of more than 3,800 primary and specialty care
physicians, and 46 hospitals and post-acute care facilities will be
available to people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored
health plans. BSWQA will leverage population health management,
including care coordination, disease management, preventive health
services, a health information exchange (HIE) and data analytics, to
deliver a higher standard of quality care at lower costs.
The two organizations will help shift Texas’ health care system to one
that rewards quality and value instead of the volume of procedures
performed. BSWQA is one of 250 new accountable care programs
UnitedHealthcare has committed to in 2015 as it engages in deeper, more
collaborative relationships with physicians and hospitals across the
country.
“We have collaborated with UnitedHealthcare to apply our expertise in
health care innovation and patient-centered programs to improve North
Texans’ health and well-being,” said Carl Couch, M.D., president of
BSWQA. “Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and UnitedHealthcare will
combine proficiencies to meet our shared goals of improving quality,
reducing cost and integrating clinical care for the people we serve.”
UnitedHealthcare will complement BSWQA’s established population health
infrastructure with technology and actionable patient data, enabling
physicians to take specific measures to improve quality and lower costs.
Actionable data can include patient profiles, specific HEDIS gaps, and
real-time information about Emergency Room (ER) and inpatient
admissions. A team of care coordinators will support community-based
care coordination, such as helping with transition plans after an
individual is discharged from the hospital, scheduling follow-up
appointments and closing care gaps.
Collaborating with health plan partners such as UnitedHealthcare enables
BSWQA physicians to support a value-based health care model in which
they receive payment incentives for achieving total cost savings by
meeting certain evidence-based measures, such as disease management,
primary care screenings and patient safety.
“Our relationship with Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance is helping
improve our plan participants’ access to quality care while working to
lower costs,” said Tom Quirk, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Texas. “Our
shared effort illustrates the deep relationships we are building with
North Texas care providers to enhance health services and improve the
coordination of care.”
UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored plan participants who currently
receive care from BSWQA’s affiliated care providers will not have to do
anything differently to benefit from this new relationship.
Care providers nationwide are showing a strong interest in a shift to
value-based care. UnitedHealthcare’s total payments to physicians and
hospitals that are tied to value-based arrangements have nearly tripled
in the last three years, to approximately $36 billion. By the end of
2018, UnitedHealthcare expects that figure to reach $65 billion.
UnitedHealthcare has more than 520 active Accountable Care Programs
today. For more information about UnitedHealthcare’s full spectrum of
value-based initiatives, visit www.AccountableCareAnswers.com.
UnitedHealthcare serves nearly million Texans with a care provider
network of 516 hospitals and more than 53,000 care providers statewide.
About Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance
BSWQA is an
organization committed to delivering high quality health care, in an
efficient, integrated manner for the patients and communities it serves.
Through its dedication to collaboration and accountability, BSWQA has
quickly emerged as a leader in the industry for creating a care system
that is more integrated, coordinated, and accountable; one that strives
to deliver the right care, at the right place, and at the right time.
Through its accountable, evidence-based, collective, proactive,
value-driven efforts BSWQA is a model for a better health care system
for the future. Covering the North and Central Texas regions, BSWQA is a
comprehensive accountable care network comprised of more than 3,800
primary and specialty care physicians, 46 hospitals, post-acute care
facilities, and other stakeholders throughout the care continuum,
assuming joint responsibility for achieving the Triple Aim™ framework:
Better Care, Better Health, Better Value. For more information visit www.baylorqualityalliance.com
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,
military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and
Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 850,000
physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care
facilities nationwide. Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves 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. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com
or follow @myUHC on Twitter.
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Copyright Business Wire 2015