A new value-based care agreement has been announced between Humana and Interwell Health, a kidney care management company, in 13 states.
The partnership focuses on providing care to Humana Medicare Advantage HMO and PPO members living with chronic kidney disease (CKD), as well as members living with end-stage kidney disease.
"Kidney disease is challenging due to its complex nature and high treatment costs, which is often compounded because symptoms only reveal the disease in its more advanced stages," said Robert Sepucha, CEO for Interwell Health, in a news release. "But in just our first year as a unified company, we are partnering with the nation's largest network of nephrologists to deliver better health outcomes for patients and significant reductions in the total cost of care for payer partners—all at scale."
The agreement will reach members living in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.
“At Humana, we are committed to providing the highest levels of support and care for our members,” Humana Senior Vice President Carl Daley said in a news release. “With millions of American adults currently living with chronic kidney disease, we continue to expand our programs, and this latest collaboration helps our members have access to value-based, coordinated chronic kidney disease care, as well as a vast amount of resources tailored to meet their specific needs throughout each stage of their healthcare journey.”
Humana and Interwell’s partnership is the latest example of companies engaging in value-based care agreements, otherwise known as a healthcare model centering on improving patient health outcomes. More than 1,700 network nephrologists, renal care coordinators and in-home virtual support specialists will be covered under the new program, according to the news release. Interwell Health added 20 new physician practices to its network earlier this month, now covering 125,000 members.
"This agreement is key to helping even more patients with kidney disease live their best lives,” Interwell Health Chief Medical Officer George Hart, M.D., said in the announcement. “We are proud of our close collaboration with Humana that is demonstrating a way to improve outcomes while lowering the total cost of care. Our success is due in large part to our ability to fully activate a passionate, multidisciplinary care team that works in partnership with our network of high-performing nephrologists across the country.”
In its second-quarter earnings call, Humana announced more than $26.7 billion of revenue, a 13% year-over-year improvement and highlighted its growth in Medicare Advantage membership.