Nearly 800 care providers in Florida recognized with 2014 PATH
Excellence in Patient Service Awards for hitting key quality measures in
treatment of Medicare Advantage members
Program is helping encourage transition to value-based payments from
fee-for-service approach
Approximately $9.1 million in bonus payments went from UnitedHealthcare
to nearly 800 Florida care providers named winners of the PATH
Excellence in Patient Service Awards.*
The recipients achieved the highest adherence levels for key quality
measures by successfully closing gaps in care when treating
UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members. They are among more than
4,000 care providers nationwide who received the award and earned more
than $54 million in bonus payments.
The PATH program annually rewards physicians who meet certain
performance-based criteria, including achieving or exceeding compliance
targets for 17 specific Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information
Set (HEDIS) measures, including the percentages of eligible
UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members who received a breast cancer
screening or colorectal cancer screening. Other measures evaluate the
percentages of members who adhere to their medications to help manage
their diabetes, high blood pressure or cholesterol.
Health plans and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services use HEDIS
as a tool to measure performance on important dimensions of health care
and service.
“We are committed to recognizing and rewarding physicians in Florida for
consistently helping our plan participants live healthier lives,” said
Sam Ho, M.D., chief medical officer of UnitedHealthcare. “As
UnitedHealthcare continues building deeper, more collaborative
relationships with care providers, the PATH Excellence in Patient
Service Awards are just one step we are taking to support the transition
to a value-based health care system in which payment is increasingly
based on ensuring the people we serve receive the quality care they
need.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fewer than
half of adults ages 65 and older were up to date with core preventive
services, such as tests and screenings, despite getting regular
check-ups from their doctors.** Because many chronic
conditions are more common in older adults, preventive care becomes even
more important with advancing age. Preventive care can identify health
issues at an early stage, before they have an opportunity to intensify
and lead to costly complications that can have a negative impact on
people’s quality of life.
UnitedHealthcare created the PATH program to help its Medicare Advantage
members be as healthy as possible by encouraging greater use of
preventive health care services and proactive monitoring of chronic
conditions. The program provides support and incentives for both care
providers and Medicare Advantage members to enhance their engagement in
their health care and willingness to take action on their doctors’
treatment plan, thereby closing gaps in care.
In 2015, nearly 1 million UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members
are being treated by doctors who participate in the PATH program.*
The PATH program is part of UnitedHealthcare’s commitment to help shift
the nation’s health care system to one that rewards quality and value
instead of the volume of procedures performed. To facilitate this shift,
the company offers a variety of fee-for-value payment arrangements,
including incentive programs like PATH, performance-based contracting,
bundled payments and accountable care organization (ACO) relationships.
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 $38 billion.* By the end of 2018,
UnitedHealthcare expects that figure to reach $65 billion.*
Serving nearly one in five Medicare beneficiaries, UnitedHealthcare is
the largest business dedicated to the health and well-being needs of
seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries.*
For more information about UnitedHealthcare’s full spectrum of
value-based initiatives, visit www.AccountableCareAnswers.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.
UnitedHealthcare 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
**http://www.cdc.gov/aging/services/
Plans are insured through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or one of
its affiliated companies, a Medicare Advantage organization with a
Medicare contract and a Medicare- approved Part D sponsor. Enrollment in
the plan depends on the plan’s contract renewal with Medicare.
This information is not a complete description of benefits. Contact the
plan for more information. Limitations, co-payments, and restrictions
may apply. Benefits, premium and/or co-payments/co-insurance
may change on January 1 of each year.
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