Dive Brief:
- Large Philadelphia-area insurer Independence Blue Cross will form the backbone of a new ACO linking local health systems into a health plan serving their own employees.
- The group, the Noble Health Alliance, is an integrated provider network that includes Abington Health, Aria Health System, Crozer-Keystone Health System and Einstein Healthcare Network.
- The health plan for the four systems includes 15 hospitals and about 4,600 physicians and clinicians, and covers about 39,000 employees and dependents. Independence Blue Cross will serve as the sole administrator for the providers' self-insured health plan and as the preferred insurer for the ACO.
Dive Insight:
Health leaders with the Noble organizations say their first priority is to see if they can improve coordinated care for employees and dependents with chronic conditions. They then hope to use the lessons they've learned to create clinical models for commercially-insured patients and Medicare beneficiaries. This agreement offers a new perspective on what an ACO can be, as well: Rather than providers subsuming their goals to that of the insurer, they are leveraging the skills of the insurer to lower their own risk.
Meanwhile, Independence Blue Cross is exploring a number of other provider relationships, particularly ACO deals, and seems to be making some headway. Earlier this summer the payer—which has ACO relationships with 90% of the region's delivery system—reported that half the participating hospitals reduced costs for their members during the first full year of the program. While there's little information available on what steps the hospitals took to cut costs, it seems the deal was good for the payer at least. The question now is whether hospitals are making sustainable gains under IBC's program, too.