Humana's CenterWell plans to open between 30 and 35 new senior-focused primary care clinics over the course of 2023.
This includes bringing its senior-centric care model to new states including Indiana, Virginia and Mississippi and continuing to expand in markets where it currently operates clinics. While Humana has not yet decided on where in Indiana it plans to focus, it has circled Richmond and Tidewater in Virginia as well as Biloxi, Gulfport and Jackson in Mississippi.
Regions in CenterWell's current footprint, such as Dallas and Nashville, will also see new clinics open in the next year, Humana said in an announcement.
Vivek Garg, M.D., chief medical officer for Humana's primary care organization, told Fierce Healthcare that one of the goals with CenterWell's clinics is to expand into and within markets where there's a demographic need but also where it can promote community health.
"It's really important that you become a part of the community," Garg said. "We need to be part of people's lives and their communities because this is not just our job alone."
The PCO, which includes CenterWell's primary care clinics as well as its sister brand Conviva, is the country's largest provider of senior-focused primary care services. It collectively operates 220 centers in 11 states and has plans to add between 30 and 50 new clinics each year through 2025.
CenterWell and Conviva together manage care for about 240,000 patients from multiple payers.
The health centers are staffed by physicians and care teams that have been trained to manage the unique needs of a senior population. Social needs, behavioral health and financial concerns are all integrated into its model, Humana said.
The model also enables physicians to spend more time with their patients, which is a boon for both, and allows for a more personalized approach.
Garg said Humana's focus on value-based care and longtime commitment to these models is what convinced him to join up with the company in the first place.
"Humana has been, in my mind, a category creator and enabler around value-based care for seniors," he said.