The
Franciscan Alliance Accountable Care Organization includes over 600 local
physicians and five Immediate Care Centers located throughout the Indianapolis
area, as well as Franciscan St. Francis Health hospitals in Indianapolis, Mooresville,
and Carmel.
“As a leader in integrated care, forming this collaborative
accountable care initiative with Cigna is a logical next step for us in
bringing coordinated care to patients in Indianapolis,” said Robert J. Brody,
president and chief executive officer for Franciscan St. Francis Health.
“Bringing together the clinical expertise and information sources from both our
organizations will help us to provide patients with more seamless care,
resulting in better outcomes.”
To achieve enhanced care coordination, healthier people, and lower overall costs for patients, the collaboration will focus on identifying and implementing long-term strategies aimed at ensuring health care remains accessible and affordable for Cigna customers in Indianapolis.
Franciscan Alliance and Cigna will work together, sharing clinical and care management information to provide coordinated, comprehensive health care services. Each organization will have aligned incentives to improve health care quality and patient service while reducing costs.
“This
new model stresses the value of care over the volume of care and
means both our organizations will work in collaboration to improve
the health and the experience of our mutual customers," said Sue
Podbielski, president and general manager for Cigna in Indiana. "Together
our goal is to change a fragmented health care system that focuses on treating
people after they are already sick into a system that emphasizes
coordination, prevention and wellness."
The long-term goal of the initiative, which launched January 1, is to build a delivery model that improves quality through better coordination of care, while taking unnecessary or duplicative costs out of the health care system, reducing costs for Cigna customers and their employers.
Critical
to the program’s success are complex case managers employed by Franciscan Alliance who will become part of the
physician-led care team and serve as clinical care coordinators. They
help patients with chronic conditions or other health challenges navigate the
health care system.
For example, they identify
patients discharged from the hospital who might be at risk for
readmission, help patients get the follow-up care or screenings they
need, identify any issues related to medications and help prevent chronic
conditions from worsening.
The
care coordinators use patient-specific data from Cigna to help them identify
patients in need of these services and are aligned to a team of Cigna case
managers to ensure a high degree of collaboration between the two organizations. Care
coordinators can also help patients schedule appointments, provide health
education and refer patients to the Cigna health management and wellness
programs that may be available to them through their employer’s benefit plan.
Cigna
is now engaged in more than 50 collaborative
accountable care initiatives in 22 states, encompassing nearly 510,000
Cigna customers and more than 14,000 doctors, including more than 6,500 primary
care physicians and more than 7,500 specialists.
Cigna launched its first collaborative accountable care program in 2008 and its
goal is to have 100 of them in place with one million customers by the end of 2014.
About Franciscan St.
Francis Health
With
hospitals in Indianapolis, Mooresville and Carmel, Franciscan St. Francis
Health is a member of the Franciscan Alliance, one of the largest Catholic
health care systems in the Midwest with 13 hospitals throughout Indiana and
Illinois. The Franciscan Alliance serves a geographic area with a population of
3.7 million people, provides care for more than 2.9 million outpatient visits
and completes more than 100,000 inpatient discharges every year. To learn more
about Franciscan Alliance go to www.franciscanalliance.org.
About Cigna
Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI) is a global
health service company dedicated to helping people improve their health,
well-being and sense of security. All products and services are provided
exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation,
including Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Cigna Health and Life Insurance
Company, Life Insurance Company of North America and Cigna Life Insurance
Company of New York. Such products and services include an integrated suite of
health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, vision,
supplemental benefits, and other related products including group life,
accident and disability insurance. Cigna maintains sales capability in 30
countries and jurisdictions, and has approximately 75 million customer
relationships throughout the world. To learn more about Cigna®, including links
to follow us on Facebook or Twitter, visit www.cigna.com.
