Boulder Community Health wants to create the healthiest community in the country.
But as an independent health system, building the scale necessary to achieve that goal was out of reach. So, BCH is partnering with Optum in bid to maintain its independence while building expanding its capabilities.
Optum will manage several facets of BCH’s business, including data analytics, revenue cycle and care coordination. The health system will maintain control over patient care and strategic planning.
Robert Vissers, M.D., CEO of Boulder Community Health, told Fierce Healthcare that the partnership was attractive because leadership at the health system considered other avenues, including a merger or acquisition, but believed staying independent was critical.
“One of the challenges that we faced was that we believed absolutely our independence was key to [our goals], but our size and scale created financial constraints,” he said.
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Optum entered into a similar partnership with California-based system John Muir Health, which also sought to maintain its independence. Katie Higgins, executive vice president and general manager of the Western Region at Optum, told Fierce Healthcare that lessons learned in that partnership helped shaped the agreement with BCH.
For one, she said it’s crucial for leadership to be aligned on the direction of the partnership, and to ensure that the two organizations share similar values and goals.
“This supports our mission and our vision, and the goals that we have are incredibly well aligned,” Higgins said.
Vissers said that the team at BCH kept lines of communication open with their counterparts at JMH over the past year as the partnership took form. He said the success that John Muir saw in their arrangement Optum was reassuring, but also that their team also advised that BCH’s leadership pinpoint as many opportunities for synergy as possible ahead of time.
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Higgins said that the partnership will also establish a joint governance structure to allow for continued monitoring of performance and progress toward goals, with the intention of ensuring the partnership lasts for the long-term.
She said Optum hopes that these arrangements can offer an alternative for health systems looking to maintain independence, which may not be an option for them otherwise.
Vissers echoed the sentiment, saying he hopes other health systems see this work as a model to follow.
“I fully expect that we become a model for how an independent health system can be successful and serve its community, and also not just survive but thrive in competitive healthcare environments,” he said.