Dive Brief:
- Health plan giant WellPoint has struck a deal with Atlanta's Emory Healthcare under which the two will partner on value-based reimbursement models and risk-based payments.
- Under the agreement, Emory will implement WellPoint subsidiary CareMore Health System's clinical care model for its Medicare Advantage population. The deal should go live early next year.
- Emory will be the first provider network in the southeast to partner with CareMore, which has a stronger presence in California and Arizona, Becker's Hospital Review notes.
Dive Insight:
This deal offers an interesting look at the way in which the healthcare system is morphing into new models, driven both by the health care reform law and market forces. For example, here you have an insurer, operating health plans and a medical group, partnering with a health system including six hospitals and 1,800 physicians. The lines between these entities are getting blurred, both here and in other similar deals driven by insurers. Over the next couple of years, as quaint as it sounds, I believe providers are going to have to figure out who they are.