Saturday, June 8, 2013

Aetna and Beacon Health Partners, LLP Build Medical Home Program

Published: June 7, 2013 






Re — Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Garden City-based Beacon Health Partners, LLP today announced a new agreement to reward Beacon’s independent practices for operating as Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs).
“The PCMH model of care is designed to reward physicians for delivering better coordinated, higher quality and more efficient care, which will result in an improved overall value and patient experience for our members,” said David Kobus, Aetna’s senior vice president of Network Management for New York.
A medical home is a team of doctors and clinicians within a medical practice who work together to provide continuous and comprehensive health care for patients. By providing proactive and ongoing attention, rather than episode-based treatment, doctors in a medical home can provide more efficient and more effective care.
“Medical homes can support improvements in care quality, positively impact member health, and reduce medical costs through better efficiency and data sharing,” said Terry Golash, M.D., Aetna senior medical director. “Medical homes allow for improved information exchange and communication among physicians, other care providers, patients and insurers, all of which help enable informed clinical decisions.”
The two-year initiative rewards Beacon for continued and improved patient care coordination and outcomes in categories such as cancer screening measures and diabetic or cardiovascular monitoring and care. Aetna and Beacon also will share data to support appropriate patient care.
Dr. Simon Prince, President of Beacon said, “Doctors often talk about quality, but don’t measure it. One of the key characteristics of the medical home is that it brings rigorous measurement and quality analysis to prove that the best care is being provided, resulting in fewer hospitalizations and medical errors.”
About Beacon Health Partners
Beacon Health Partners, based in Garden City, NY, is a physician-owned Accountable Care Organization (ACO). Made up of primary care physicians and specialists, Beacon’s mission is to improve quality of care through a new, improved care management system that allows greater focus on patient wellness, reducing time spent on more expensive treatments. Beacon has more than 300 physicians dedicated to providing coordinated, efficient, quality patient care at its numerous locations across Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. The practice uses state-of-the-art systems and electronic medical records to enhance the health of the community. For more information, visit us at www.beaconhealthpartners.com.
About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 44 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services, workers' compensation administrative services and health information technology services. Aetna’s customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, seewww.aetna.com.

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