May 24, 2017 (White Plains, NY and Atlanta, GA) - Collaborative Health Systems (CHS), a WellCare company (NYSE: WCG), and Curant Health, a leading medication management company, announced today the launch of a pilot program intended to improve medication adherence and overall health outcomes for individuals with multiple chronic conditions, also known as poly-chronic.
The pilot program provides medication management and patient support services to targeted beneficiaries who are assigned to Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) managed by CHS and physician partners. Longer term partnership objectives include the expectation that focus on medication adherence may drive positive impact on ACO quality measures and shared savings. Nearly half of ACO quality measures depend on appropriate medication management and adherence.
The pilot complements the efforts of CHS care coordination teams by extending their reach into the patient’s home and providing regular review and reconciliation of beneficiaries’ medication regimens. The Curant Health support team, comprised of clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and client strategy specialists, will quickly identify patient adherence barriers and will work closely with the physicians and case managers on long term resolution of those barriers.
“Improvement in medication adherence is a critical driver in improving health outcomes for individuals and reducing overall healthcare costs,” says Jeff Spight, president of the Management Services Organization/Accountable Care Organization (MSO/ACO) business at WellCare. “The difficulty in achieving excellent medication adherence is compounded for many of our beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions. A key component of our business model is the provision of care teams that act as an extension of our physicians’ practices. This additional support equips physicians to proactively engage with patients between their physician visits so their conditions are better managed and they stay healthier, longer. Curant Health, with its proven expertise in driving medication adherence, is an ideal partner in this effort.”
“There is an abundance of clinical data tying improvements in adherence to improved outcomes and the reduction of overall healthcare costs,” says Patrick Dunham, president and CEO of Curant Health. “Furthermore, it’s well-documented that the lack of integrated data and care coordination sources for prescription drug usage, interventions, and educational support to beneficiaries results in less than optimum performance for the ACO,” says Dunham.
“Based on our experience helping organizations like Johns Hopkins improve medication adherence and patient outcomes compared to the current standard of care, we believe our partnership with Collaborative Health Systems will help patients achieve greater value from their medication regimens and help Collaborative Health Systems further activate value-based opportunities in the Medicare Shared Savings Program,” Dunham says.
About Collaborative Health Systems
Collaborative Health Systems (CHS), a WellCare company (NYSE:WCG), is a management services organization that partners with primary care physicians as they move to value-based payment systems. Our core belief is that primary care physicians are in the best position to influence the quality and cost of healthcare. CHS provides comprehensive support for its physician partners by providing actionable data to help coordinate care and helping practices change behavior to meet the new quality requirements of the value-based payment system. In 2017, CHS manages two Next Generation Model ACOs and 16 MSSP ACOs, with more than 5,200 providers, mostly primary care physicians, covering 222,000 Medicare beneficiaries. In addition, CHS partners with physician groups that have come together to form Independent Physician Associations (IPAs). For more information, visit www.CollaborativeHealthSystems.com.
About Curant Health:
The team of healthcare experts at Curant Health provide individualized, patient-centered services proven to deliver improved health outcomes including individualized medication management therapies and continuous, consistent patient care, education and support These programs dramatically lower the cost to treat chronic, high-expense conditions including HIV, HCV, diabetes and others. Recognized four times as one of America’s Fastest Growing Companies by Inc. Magazine, Curant was also one of 10 finalists in Microsoft’s Excellence in Innovation competition for its development and deployment of its EMR system, MedPlan. www.curanthealth.com
Contacts:
WellCare Media Relations
1-813-290-6208
WellCareMediaRelations@wellcare.com
Curant Health Media Relations
Paul Snyder, Write2Market
1-404-414-4240
paul@write2market.com