Aetna and Carolinas HealthCare System are using a clinically integrated organization (CIO) model to support stronger patient-centered medical homes and other accountable care efforts. Using CHS's broad system of integrated facilities and physicians, the collaboration is designed to give Charlotte-area employers better health care options for their employees by:
Creating a more coordinated, personalized experience for patients;
Saving employees money when they use providers in CHS's clinically integrated care network; and
Improving health care outcomes.
The arrangement is one of Aetna's first accountable care collaborations designed specifically to offer self-insured customers the quality improvement and cost-saving benefits available through these models. It also is available to fully insured customers. As part of the collaboration, CHS and Aetna will review trends among members cared for in the model and develop plans to improve them where needed, such as:
Increasing prescribing of generic drugs by providers;
Maintaining CHS's performance at national benchmark levels for annual hemoglobin and lipid testing for members with diabetes; and
Increasing CHS's current performance to national benchmark levels for annual eye exams for members with diabetes, and breast cancer screening.
