Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin (IHN) and UnitedHealthcare are
expanding their accountable care arrangement to improve the coordination
and delivery of care in Wisconsin. More than 30,000 Wisconsin residents
enrolled in UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage plans are now able to
benefit from the improved care coordination and enhanced health services
that the arrangement offers.*
In 2013, IHN and UnitedHealthcare formed an accountable care
relationship to provide coordinated care to people enrolled in a number
of UnitedHealthcare’s employer-sponsored health plans. In January 2015,
UnitedHealthcare’s AARP MedicareComplete Medicare Advantage plans were
added to the existing relationship, which means the physicians and
hospitals affiliated with IHN will now also be recognized for
effectively managing the care provided to UnitedHealthcare Medicare
Advantage members.
IHN is Wisconsin’s first multi-system, clinically integrated accountable
care network.** It is a consortium of independent health
systems, composed of 45 hospitals and 5,700 physicians and participating
providers in Wisconsin, working together to improve the quality,
efficiency and value of health care.** IHN currently has
eight members: Agnesian HealthCare, Columbia St. Mary’s, Froedtert
Health, Hospital Sisters Health System, The Medical College of
Wisconsin, Ministry Health Care, SSM Health and Wheaton Franciscan
Healthcare.
“We are pleased to expand our relationship with UnitedHealthcare and
apply our experience and expertise in health care innovation and
patient-centered programs to a broader population,” said Kurt Janavitz,
CEO of Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin. “We have long worked with
UnitedHealthcare to help improve the health of its plan participants,
and together we can continue to increase patient engagement to achieve
even better health outcomes and improved patient satisfaction while
reducing the overall cost of care.”
UnitedHealthcare will enhance the support it already provides IHN
physicians and hospitals with shared staff and other resources to enable
more effective population health management across a broader base of
UnitedHealthcare plan participants. For example, UnitedHealthcare will
complement the network’s efforts to help IHN physicians take specific
actions to improve quality of care for this population while lowering
costs. Actionable data will include information about gaps in care, such
as missed annual checkups and preventive screenings.
Additionally, patient navigators will be used to support community-based
care coordination, such as helping with transition plans after an
individual is discharged from the hospital.
UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members who currently receive care
from IHN-affiliated care providers will automatically be eligible to
benefit from the accountable care relationship.
“UnitedHealthcare is building more collaborative relationships with the
physicians caring for our members so we can help enhance their health in
meaningful ways,” said Chris Abbott, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Medicare &
Retirement in Wisconsin. “Adding our Medicare Advantage program to our
accountable care arrangement with IHN means we can help connect the
seniors and other beneficiaries we collectively serve in Wisconsin to
well-coordinated care, place a greater focus on the quality of their
care, and compensate doctors and hospitals for improving patients’
health.”
UnitedHealthcare’s expansion of its relationship with IHN will help
shift Wisconsin’s health care system to one that rewards quality and
value instead of the volume of procedures performed.
IHN 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 United States.*
Care providers nationwide are showing 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 $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 more than 1.4 million Wisconsin residents,
including more than 210,000 Medicare beneficiaries, with a care provider
network of more than 130 hospitals and nearly 21,000 physicians
statewide.*
About Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin
Based
in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin is a
clinically integrated network of major health systems, hospitals and
physicians working together to improve the quality, efficiency and value
of health care services in the markets served by its members. Integrated
Health Network’s current members include Agnesian HealthCare, Columbia
St. Mary’s, Froedtert Health, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Hospital
Sisters Health System, Ministry Health Care, SSM Health and Wheaton
Franciscan Healthcare, representing more than 5,700 physicians and
participating providers, 555 clinics and 45 hospitals throughout
Wisconsin.** The network now impacts more than 3 million
lives.** The Integrated Health Network vision is to redefine
the delivery of health care through innovation and integration. www.ihnwi.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.
*Internal UnitedHealthcare Data, 2015
**Internal
IHN Data, 2015
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Copyright Business Wire 2015