WakeMed Key Community Care and UnitedHealthcare Collaborate to Improve Patient Care Across the Triangle
May 27 2015 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Starting June 1, more than 175,000
UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored health plan participants in
North Carolina can benefit from improved care coordination and
enhanced health services
WakeMed Key Community Care (WKCC), an Accountable Care
Organization (ACO) created by WakeMed Health & Hospitals,
WakeMed Physician Practices and Key Physicians, and
UnitedHealthcare are collaborating to improve care coordination and
enhance health services for Triangle-area residents enrolled in
UnitedHealthcare’s employer-sponsored health plans who receive care
from a WKCC primary care physician.
Through the new accountable care relationship that begins June
1, 2015, UnitedHealthcare and WKCC will integrate and deliver
valuable health resources in a more coordinated way to support
better health in the Triangle and across the state.
WKCC has been an approved participant in the Medicare Shared
Savings Program since Jan. 1, 2014. A collaboration between WakeMed
and Key Physicians, the largest network of independent primary care
physicians in the Triangle, WKCC provides patients with access to
more than 400 community physicians.
Doctors, hospitals and insurers participate in accountable care
programs to deliver enhanced coordination of care and provide
resources that help reduce costs and improve quality of care for
patients. These efforts can benefit patients in a variety of ways
across their health care experience, from a routine check-up or
ongoing disease management, to an unforeseen trip to the emergency
department.
WKCC’s partnership with UnitedHealthcare offers new
opportunities for care providers to work closer together to help
patients manage and improve their health, while keeping costs under
control. Participating care providers will focus on:
- proactive services to help patients
receive preventive care, such as immunizations and screenings;
- tools, materials and outreach to help
patients better manage their chronic diseases;
- staff to help patients navigate care at
the right level, at the right time, in the right setting; and
safer, more effective care as a result of shared knowledge and best
practices among health care providers.
“We’re pleased to partner with UnitedHealthcare to improve both
the quality and value of care patients receive when they see a WKCC
care provider,” said John Rubino, M.D., WKCC chairman of the board.
“Together, we can continue to improve the patient experience while
making an impact on the health of our community.”
WakeMed Key Community Care’s new relationship with
UnitedHealthcare will help shift North Carolina’s health care
system to one that rewards quality and value instead of the volume
of procedures performed. WKCC is among 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. UnitedHealthcare has more than
520 accountable care programs active today.
“Our collaboration with WakeMed Key Community Care will help
connect the people we collectively serve to the most effective
care, place a greater focus on the quality of their care and
compensate care providers for improving patients’ health,” said
Garland Scott, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of the Carolinas.
UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored plan participants who
currently receive care from physicians participating in WKCC will
automatically benefit from this new relationship.
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
has nearly tripled in the last three years to $38 billion. By the
end of 2018, UnitedHealthcare expects that figure to reach $65
billion.
UnitedHealthcare serves more than 1 million North Carolina
residents with a care provider network of 143 hospitals and nearly
25,000 care providers statewide.
About WakeMed Key Community
CareWakeMed Key Community Care is an Accountable Care
Organization (ACO) established to enhance the quality and
coordination of health care, and reduce the costs of care by
providing more value for patients. ACOs enable medical providers to
work closer together to create healthier communities and help
Triangle-area patients better manage their health. A collaboration
between WakeMed Health & Hospitals and Key Physicians, WakeMed
Key Community Care brings together a network of more than 220
independent Key primary care physicians with a leading health
system and another 250 primary and specialty care providers from
WakeMed Physician Practices. The partnership is designed to ensure
that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care
at the right time at the right level, while avoiding unnecessary
duplication of services and preventing medical errors. WakeMed Key
Community Care received approval as a Medicare Shared Savings
Program ACO in December 2013. It is a limited liability company in
which WakeMed Health & Hospitals and Key Physicians are
members. For more information, visit www.wakemedkeycc.org.
About
UnitedHealthcareUnitedHealthcare 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. UnitedHealthcare 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. For more information about
UnitedHealthcare’s full spectrum of value-based initiatives, visit
www.AccountableCareAnswers.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150527005171/en/
UnitedHealthcareTracey Lempner,
770-300-3573tracey.lempner@uhc.comorWakeMed Key Community
CareJessica Landin, MHA, 919-593-0154jlandin@wakemedkeycc.org
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