HeartWell LLP and Cigna Collaborate to Improve Quality and Cost for Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease
January 25 2017 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
- Value-based episodes-of-care model uses
incentives to engage health care providers
- Helps drive improved health,
affordability and experience
- Cigna's first chronic episodes-of-care
arrangement for cardiology
Cigna (NYSE: CI) and HeartWell LLP (HeartWell) have launched a
program to improve quality and cost of care for people diagnosed
with chronic coronary artery disease.
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The program is part of Cigna Collaborative Care, a value-based
model that uses incentives to engage health care providers and
helps drive improved health, affordability and patient experience.
Cigna Collaborative Care initially focused on large primary care
physician groups and later expanded to include hospitals, small
primary care practices and specialists, such as orthopedists,
oncologists and cardiologists.
Under the new initiative, HeartWell will continue to be paid for
the medical services it provides to its Cigna patients. It will
also be eligible to earn shared savings if it meets certain quality
targets and if the actual cost for an entire episode of care is
below a risk-adjusted expected cost. An episode of care includes
pre-care, cardiovascular procedures (such as cardiac
catheterizations and coronary angioplasty), medications, recovery
and follow-up care through 12 months following the procedure.
After the episode of care has ended, Cigna will evaluate all of
the claims for that episode, adjust for risk and determine if the
total actual cost is below the expected cost. If it is, HeartWell
will receive a portion of those savings – but only if it also meets
specific quality targets.
The quality targets include:
- Reduced number of hospital
readmissions
- Reduced frequency of post-surgery
complications, including deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in deep
veins), pulmonary embolisms (blockage of arteries in the lungs),
wound infections and strokes.
“We’ve had solid results from our ongoing Cigna Collaborative
Care arrangements with primary care physician groups and we’re also
having success as we extend our value-based arrangements into
specialty care. We look forward to collaborating with HeartWell as
we take this important next step into value-based cardiac care,”
said Marco Vitiello, M.D., Cigna's medical executive for South
Florida.
“At HeartWell, we believe in working closely with patients and
their primary care physician to keep them healthy. We strive to
help our patients live better lives through the high-quality care
we provide,” said Jonathan Fialkow, M.D., managing member. “We are
pleased to be the first cardiology group in the nation to partner
with Cigna on this type of arrangement focused on the value of care
rather than volume of care. We look forward to working
collaboratively on this initiative to improve the quality and
affordability of care.”
This is Cigna's first chronic episodes-of-care arrangement for
cardiology.
“Chronic conditions – such as diabetes and heart disease – can
have a significant impact on an individual’s overall health and
quality of life. Our hope is that initiatives like this will help
improve lives and contain health care costs by reducing the need
for emergency room visits and hospitalizations,” said Dr.
Vitiello.
Cigna has episodes-of-care arrangements for other medical
specialties, including orthopedics, oncology, gastroenterology and
obstetrics/gynecology. It also has pay-for-performance arrangements
for obstetrics/gynecology and oncology.
About HeartWell
HeartWell, LLP is a medical practice consisting of 23
cardiologists in nine offices in South Florida, with a
concentration in the Kendall/Coral Gables area. Every patient of a
HeartWell physician receives an accurate, thorough evaluation and
diagnosis, followed up by the most advanced solutions available to
appropriately manage cardiovascular diseases through the timely
application of lifestyle changes, medical therapies, and
interventional technologies.
HeartWell’s physicians are among the most skilled and respected
doctors in the area who all provide personalized care—including
education about preventive measures—for patients who have, or are
at risk for, cardiac and vascular diseases.
Among the many services and specialties are office based
services such as arrhythmia management, cardiovascular research,
coronary disease management; diagnostics such as carotid ultrasound
studies, echocardiography, smoking cessation strategies; and
hospital/outpatient services including cardiac catheterization,
interventional cardiology and implantation of pacemakers and
defibrillators. For more information, visit www.heartwell.com.
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 more
than 90 million customer relationships throughout the world. To
learn more about Cigna®, including links to follow us on Facebook
or Twitter, visit www.cigna.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170125005629/en/
Cigna CorporationMark Slitt,
860-226-2092mark.slitt@cigna.comorHeartWell LLPJeff Kaplan,
305-200-0399jkaplan@heartwell.com
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