Blue Shield of California has formed a new accountable care organization with two healthcare providers.
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and Greater Newport Physicians, both in California, agreed to a three-year initiative that aims to provide 11,000 of Blue Shield's HMO members with integrated, cost-efficient healthcare, reported the Orange County Business Journal.
"This collaboration with Greater Newport Physicians and Hoag is aimed at delivering high-quality coordinated care to Blue Shield members in Orange County," said Juan Davila, senior vice president of network management for Blue Shield of California. "It's another milestone in our ongoing effort to transform how we provide and pay for care to make health coverage more affordable to all Californians."
Blue Shield, Hoag and Newport Physicians expect this ACO collaboration to result in little to no increase in healthcare costs for members in its first year and low single-digit increases in the two subsequent years, a Blue Shield spokesperson told FierceHealthPayer.
The ACO agreement launches July 1 and will last for 36 months, but Blue Shield and both providers plan to extend that duration to ensure they can offer a tangible impact on healthcare costs and expenses, the OC Metro reported.
Blue Shield, Hoag and Newport Physicians will collaborate and share information with each other to jointly provide comprehensive healthcare service for Blue Shield members, they say.
To learn more:
- check out the OC Metro article
- read the Orange County Business Journal article
Updated 03/02/12, 2:15pm: Due to a reporting error, the original article misstated the name of the Blue Shield ACO and included inaccurate information about the insurer's program. The story and headline have been updated to incorporate the correct information.