Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance (BSWQA) and UnitedHealthcare are collaborating to improve care coordination and enhance health services for more than 52,000 North Texas residents enrolled in UnitedHealthcare's employer-sponsored health plans.
BSWQA is an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) established in 2011 as part of Baylor Scott & White Health's strategy to improve health care delivery. BSWQA's network of more than 3,800 primary and specialty care physicians, and 46 hospitals and post-acute care facilities will be available to people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored health plans. BSWQA will leverage population health management, including care coordination, disease management, preventive health services, a health information exchange (HIE) and data analytics, to deliver a higher standard of quality care at lower costs.
The two organizations will help shift Texas' health care system to one that rewards quality and value instead of the volume of procedures performed. BSWQA is one of 250 new accountable care programs UnitedHealthcare has committed to in 2015 as it engages in deeper, more collaborative relationships with physicians and hospitals across the country.
"We have collaborated with UnitedHealthcare to apply our expertise in health care innovation and patient-centered programs to improve North Texans' health and well-being," said Carl Couch, M.D., president of BSWQA. "Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and UnitedHealthcare will combine proficiencies to meet our shared goals of improving quality, reducing cost and integrating clinical care for the people we serve."
UnitedHealthcare will complement BSWQA's established population health infrastructure with technology and actionable patient data, enabling physicians to take specific measures to improve quality and lower costs. Actionable data can include patient profiles, specific HEDIS gaps, and real-time information about Emergency Room (ER) and inpatient admissions. A team of care coordinators will support community-based care coordination, such as helping with transition plans after an individual is discharged from the hospital, scheduling follow-up appointments and closing care gaps.
Collaborating with health plan partners such as UnitedHealthcare enables BSWQA physicians to support a value-based health care model in which they receive payment incentives for achieving total cost savings by meeting certain evidence-based measures, such as disease management, primary care screenings and patient safety.
"Our relationship with Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance is helping improve our plan participants' access to quality care while working to lower costs," said Tom Quirk, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Texas. "Our shared effort illustrates the deep relationships we are building with North Texas care providers to enhance health services and improve the coordination of care."
UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored plan participants who currently receive care from BSWQA's affiliated care providers will not have to do anything differently to benefit from this new relationship.
Care providers nationwide are showing a strong interest in a shift to value-based care. UnitedHealthcare's total payments to physicians and hospitals that are tied to value-based arrangements have nearly tripled in the last three years, to approximately $36 billion. By the end of 2018, UnitedHealthcare expects that figure to reach $65 billion.
UnitedHealthcare has more than 520 active Accountable Care Programs today. For more information about UnitedHealthcare's full spectrum of value-based initiatives, visit www.AccountableCareAnswers.com.
UnitedHealthcare serves nearly 4 million Texans with a care provider network of 516 hospitals and more than 53,000 care providers statewide.
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CONTACT:
Kim Whitaker
UnitedHealthcare
(469) 633-8536
kim_t_whitaker@uhc.com
Nikki Mitchell
Baylor Scott & White Health
(214) 820-6961
NikkiMit@BaylorHealth.edu
About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com