PHOENIX and TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 4,
2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Care1st Health Plan Arizona, Inc.,
a WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) company, announced today
that it signed a value-based agreement with Equality Health to
expand its Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS)
(Medicaid) provider network, enhance its range of services, and
provide care that considers the cultural needs of each member.
Under the agreement, Care1st Health Plan Arizona and Equality
Health will collaborate to offer AHCCCS (Medicaid) members a broad
network of doctors dedicated to delivering integrated, holistic
services. All the doctors in this network are required to
participate and adhere to a culture care training model to help
ensure that members are receiving culturally sensitive care.
By integrating cultural competency in shared decision-making and
customer-centric approaches into practice, doctors can build
trusting relationships that help support prescription adherence,
heighten satisfaction, reduce unnecessary use of acute care
services and improve self-care management.
This includes using the CareEmpower technology platform, which
allows doctors to access the latest health information on
patients.
"We're proud to partner with Equality Health in order to provide
more innovative and cultural competent services while utilizing an
advanced technology platform that will enhance how we access
healthcare data," said Scott
Cummings, state president at Care1st Health Plan Arizona.
"Overall, we believe this will help promote greater health outcomes
for our members."
Additionally, care coordination will be available for members
who need more support such as those with chronic conditions. This
process also includes a Health Access Survey that will identify
social determinants of health that could affect members' care.
These social determinants include factors such as residing in
food desert areas, employment, housing, and access to healthcare.
Based on the needs identified, members will be linked to
community-based organizations that offer valuable social and human
services like food programs, transportation, housing, and more.
"Care coordination is a key piece of our overall goal to change
the current standard in healthcare," said Hugh Lytle, Equality Health founder and CEO.
"More than simply addressing people's basic medical needs, we need
to find solutions for challenges with language and health literacy
as well as cultural and social factors that have created these
large health disparities for a growing portion of our society.
We need to treat the whole patient and we believe this is a
major step in that direction."
As of Sept. 30, 2017, Care1st
Health Plan Arizona serves approximately 156,000 AHCCCS (Medicaid)
members and 2,000 Medicare Advantage Special Needs members.
WellCare also has 21,000 Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (PDP)
members in Arizona.
About WellCare Health Plans, Inc.
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla.,
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) focuses exclusively on
providing government-sponsored managed care services, primarily
through Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug
Plans, to families, children, seniors and individuals with complex
medical needs. The company serves approximately 4.3 million members
nationwide as of Sept. 30, 2017. For
more information about WellCare, please visit the company's website
at www.wellcare.com or view the company's videos at
www.youtube.com/user/WellCareHealthPlan.
About Equality Health
Equality Health, LLC is an Arizona-based integrated delivery system
focused on improving care delivery for underserved populations
through culturally-sensitive programs that improve access, quality
and patient trust. Through an integrated technology and services
platform, culturally competent provider network and unique cultural
care model, Equality Health helps managed care plans and health
systems improve care for the Hispanic population while
simultaneously making the transition to risk-based accountability.
For more information about Equality Health, visit
www.equalityhealth.com or follow @EqualityHealth on Facebook and
@EqualityHealth1 on Twitter.
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SOURCE WellCare Health Plans, Inc.