In January 2013, Cigna and Orlando Health Physician Partners launched a collaborative accountable care initiative to expand patient access to health care, improve care coordination, and achieve the “triple aim” of improved health outcomes, lower total medical costs and increased patient satisfaction. Orlando Health doctors monitor and coordinate all aspects of an individual’s medical care, and patients continue to go to their current physician to automatically receive the benefits of the program. The program is expected to provide immediate benefits for those who need help managing chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease.
Central to the program are registered nurses who are part of the physician-led care team and serve as clinical care coordinators. They use patient-specific data from Cigna to help them identify patients who are in need of services like follow-up care and screenings to curtail hospital readmissions. This high degree of collaboration between Orlando Health physicians and Cigna that ultimately results in a better experience for the individual.
Cigna will compensate Orlando Health physicians for the medical and care coordination services they provide. Physicians will be rewarded through a “pay for performance” structure if they meet targets for improving quality and lowering medical costs.
