Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) will financially support local independent primary care practices as they transition to value-based care during the coronavirus pandemic, the payer announced. The payer will offer payments to providers who enter into value-based contracts based on capitated payment models. “Collaborating with the primary care community has…

Across the U.S., hospital systems are bleeding money. The coronavirus is largely to blame, with most of the country suspending elective procedures and non-essential hospital services for the majority of spring. The American Hospital Association (AHA), for example, estimates that COVID-19’s financial impact to hospitals and health systems over the four-month period from March 1 to June…

MaineHealth Accountable Care Organization is a network of 10 hospitals, 378 practice locations and 1,600 healthcare providers dedicated to measurably increasing the quality and decreasing the cost of care for 380,000 patients in Maine and northern New Hampshire. MaineHealth’s coverage area has one of the highest emergency department utilization rates in the country. So the…

In the wake of the pandemic, health systems have been forced to pivot quickly to redeploy personnel and other resources to support front-line clinicians and reach out to vulnerable populations. During a recent panel discussion, three executives discussed how their experience with value-based care models made them nimble enough to respond. Speaking during the spring…

Southwestern Health Resources Accountable Care Network, a major healthcare system in Texas, made a large investment in data collection and analysis as part of its participation in the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization program. That investment is now helping the system learn more about the spread of COVID-19 in its region. “We work with provider…