How Morgan Health is making its accountable care pitch to providers

Morgan Health, the new healthcare arm of JPMorgan Chase, wants to shift the paradigm for the employer health market to more accountable care.

Now, it's making its pitch to providers on why they should be a part of that endeavor, said Dan Mendelson, Morgan Health's CEO, during a presentation at the America's Physician Groups (APG) conference this week provided exclusively to Fierce Healthcare.

Mendelson told Fierce in an interview that APG's attendees are some of the most advanced providers on value-based care, and they will serve a critical role in pushing Morgan Health's agenda forward.

"We see them as very important partners for us in driving a higher level of accountability in employer-sponsored care," he said.

Prior to launching Morgan Health, JPMorgan was one of three partners behind Haven alongside Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway. Once that effort dissolved, both JPMorgan and Amazon went on to their own individual health efforts.

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Morgan Health is building up its expertise in accountable, value-based care, Mendelson said, and is looking to Medicare—both traditional and Medicare Advantage—as a foundation for innovation in the employer market. He said this makes the pitch to providers easier, as many already have experience with value-based care in Medicare.

So while Morgan Health has deep pockets for investment, it is rapidly becoming a key resource for accountable care, he said. Some of its recent hires have backgrounds at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, for example, as well as experience in value-based care at commercial health plans.

"We have capital to invest, but increasingly we have a very high, very deep expertise in accountable care, which is our focus," Mendelson said.

The company is focusing on several target metrics, which are reflective of what has worked so far in Medicare, he said. They include reducing avoidable admissions, improving management of diabetes and lipids, reducing the percentage of employers who point to cost concerns when skipping care and decreasing the disproportionate impact of select disease across race, income and geography.

"This is how we’re going to be benchmarking our own success," Mendelson said. "We are kind of in a nice situation where we will have data on all these metrics and we will be able to report on them as well."

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A prime example of how Morgan Health is thinking about its work is through its investment in Vera Whole Health, Mendelson said. Announced earlier this year, the company put $50 million in Vera's coordinated care model.

Mendelson said that part of what has held the employer market back from fully embracing value-based care is the lack of platforms available targeting that market. Vera's model fits that mold.

JPMorgan is working with Vera and Central Ohio Primary Care to establish a commercial relationship that will offer an integrated model of care to some 30,000 JPMorgan employees. That relationship will focus on quality, member experience and efficiency.

The rollout will see Vera transition to a fully capitated model for JPMorgan Chase workers in Columbus.

"What we see there is a group that is fully committed to accountable care," Mendelson said. "We also see in Vera an organization that is very collaborative and partnership-oriented."