Humana has reached a value-based care agreement with Minnesota-based health system Allina Health for the insurer’s Medicare Advantage members, the latest move by the insurer to partner with providers on offering more coordinated care.
The multiyear agreement, which was announced Monday, goes into effect Jan. 1, 2022, and comes a few months after Humana started contracting with providers to offer coordinated care for patients that aren’t in Humana MA plans but are on traditional Medicare.
“This value-based agreement for Humana Medicare Advantage members is an important part of helping our members achieve their best health,” said Chuck Dow, vice president and Humana’s Medicare regional president for Minnesota, in a statement.
Humana said the deal will include emphasizing reimbursement to physicians based on health outcomes of patients instead of fee-for-service and leverage new technologies such as data analytics to connect physicians.
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The agreement with 11-hospital system Allina comes a few months after Humana announced in May it will create a direct contracting entity known as Humana Care Solutions. The direct contracting model was established by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to encourage physician organizations and other health organizations to transition to value-based care.
Humana announced in May that it has partnered with 420 primary care providers for participation in direct contracting.
The Allina deal also comes a few days after Humana released the findings of its latest annual value-based care report.
The report found hospital admissions dropped by 7% for MA members in value-based care arrangements, and emergency room visits fell by 12%.
It also showed that primary care telehealth rates rose faster among MA members in a value-based care deal compared to those without it.
“During the initial wave of COVID cases, providers in [value-based care] contracts used telehealth at five times the rate compared to practitioners in non-value-based agreements,” Humana said in a release.