Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin and UnitedHealthcare Expand Accountable Care Relationship to Improve Patient Care in Wisconsin
More than 30,000 UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members in Wisconsin can benefit from improved care coordination and enhanced health services
Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin (IHN) and UnitedHealthcare are expanding their accountable care arrangement to improve the coordination and delivery of care in Wisconsin. More than 30,000 Wisconsin residents enrolled in UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage plans are now able to benefit from the improved care coordination and enhanced health services that the arrangement offers.*
In 2013, IHN and UnitedHealthcare formed an accountable care relationship to provide coordinated care to people enrolled in a number of UnitedHealthcare’s employer-sponsored health plans. In January 2015, UnitedHealthcare’s AARP MedicareComplete Medicare Advantage plans were added to the existing relationship, which means the physicians and hospitals affiliated with IHN will now also be recognized for effectively managing the care provided to UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members.
IHN is Wisconsin’s first multi-system, clinically integrated accountable care network.** It is a consortium of independent health systems, composed of 45 hospitals and 5,700 physicians and participating providers in Wisconsin, working together to improve the quality, efficiency and value of health care.** IHN currently has eight members: Agnesian HealthCare, Columbia St. Mary’s, Froedtert Health, Hospital Sisters Health System, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Ministry Health Care, SSM Health and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare.
“We are pleased to expand our relationship with UnitedHealthcare and apply our experience and expertise in health care innovation and patient-centered programs to a broader population,” said Kurt Janavitz, CEO of Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin. “We have long worked with UnitedHealthcare to help improve the health of its plan participants, and together we can continue to increase patient engagement to achieve even better health outcomes and improved patient satisfaction while reducing the overall cost of care.”
UnitedHealthcare will enhance the support it already provides IHN physicians and hospitals with shared staff and other resources to enable more effective population health management across a broader base of UnitedHealthcare plan participants. For example, UnitedHealthcare will complement the network’s efforts to help IHN physicians take specific actions to improve quality of care for this population while lowering costs. Actionable data will include information about gaps in care, such as missed annual checkups and preventive screenings.
Additionally, patient navigators will be used to support community-based care coordination, such as helping with transition plans after an individual is discharged from the hospital.
UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members who currently receive care from IHN-affiliated care providers will automatically be eligible to benefit from the accountable care relationship.
“UnitedHealthcare is building more collaborative relationships with the physicians caring for our members so we can help enhance their health in meaningful ways,” said Chris Abbott, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement in Wisconsin. “Adding our Medicare Advantage program to our accountable care arrangement with IHN means we can help connect the seniors and other beneficiaries we collectively serve in Wisconsin to well-coordinated care, place a greater focus on the quality of their care, and compensate doctors and hospitals for improving patients’ health.”
UnitedHealthcare’s expansion of its relationship with IHN will help shift Wisconsin’s health care system to one that rewards quality and value instead of the volume of procedures performed.
IHN 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 United States.* Care providers nationwide are showing 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 $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 more than 1.4 million Wisconsin residents, including more than 210,000 Medicare beneficiaries, with a care provider network of more than 130 hospitals and nearly 21,000 physicians statewide.*
About Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin
Based in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Integrated Health Network of Wisconsin is a clinically integrated network of major health systems, hospitals and physicians working together to improve the quality, efficiency and value of health care services in the markets served by its members. Integrated Health Network’s current members include Agnesian HealthCare, Columbia St. Mary’s, Froedtert Health, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Hospital Sisters Health System, Ministry Health Care, SSM Health and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, representing more than 5,700 physicians and participating providers, 555 clinics and 45 hospitals throughout Wisconsin.** The network now impacts more than 3 million lives.** The Integrated Health Network vision is to redefine the delivery of health care through innovation and integration. www.ihnwi.com
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 850,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide.* Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves 45 million people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.* For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.
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