Healthways Acquires Ascentia Health Care Solutions
April 23 2012 - 6:50AM
Business Wire
Ben R. Leedle, Jr., president and chief executive officer of
Healthways (Nasdaq: HWAY), announced that the Company has acquired
Ascentia Health Care Solutions, a Philadelphia area based company
whose business is designed to support and promote population health
management, patient centered programs, payer strategies and
physician practice enhancement programs. Healthways will apply
Ascentia’s technology, solutions and management team to support the
rapidly growing demand for Physician-Directed Population Health
(PDPH) capabilities from physician enterprises, healthcare systems
and health plans across the country.
“Healthcare systems and payers are rapidly embracing the
transformation of reimbursement away from a volume-based
fee-for-service model to a value-based model that rewards
longitudinal quality and health outcomes at a significantly reduced
cost. At the very center of healthcare is the relationship between
the physician and the individual who is seeking improved health and
well-being. All efforts should be made to improve both the
effectiveness and efficiency of this relationship,” Leedle said.
“But the increased consolidation of physician groups and practices
affiliated with healthcare systems and health plans can only be
truly effective in delivering the desired outcomes if the solutions
are available to both empower and deliver a PDPH model.
“Ascentia is a population health management platform, designed
by physicians, for physicians. As we looked at the need to expand
our capabilities to support the diverse needs of any physician
enterprise, healthcare system, or health plan, acquiring Ascentia
provided us immediate enhancements that include:
- A well-defined physician practice
change management model with established processes and
capabilities
- A governance model for the physician
enterprise
- A proven value proposition and economic
model
- Third-party validated longitudinal
population health outcomes
- A scalable technology platform to
provide analytics and manage work flows for physicians and care
coordinators
- Experienced leadership and management
team
“Ascentia is an integral support for Renaissance Medical
Management Company (RMMC), one of the largest IPA’s in the
Philadelphia area,” continued Leedle. “Renaissance was chosen as
one of the 32 pioneer Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) by the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in no small part
because of the proven solutions delivered by Ascentia.”
Reacting to the Healthways acquisition of Ascentia, Dr. Karl
Schwabe of RMMC stated, “Using the Ascentia tools and processes has
produced higher quality and lower costs over the past decade. With
Ascentia becoming part of Healthways, we now will have an even
broader array of capabilities and solutions with an organization
that is well aligned with our mission.”
In addition, Ascentia is already supporting physician groups
affiliated with regional health plans in Pennsylvania. Tony
Buividas, Senior Vice President, Health Services for Capital Blue
Cross, said, “Capital BlueCross strives to be the medical value
leader in our service area by helping to reduce trend in health
costs, improve quality and increase member satisfaction. We
appreciate the strong support provided by Ascentia Healthcare
Solutions to meet that objective. As Capital BlueCross launched the
first Accountable Care Arrangements (ACAs) with health care
providers in our region, Ascentia Healthcare’s web-based quality
measures, care management applications and extensive experience
working with health professionals to improve quality results, have
contributed significantly to early ACA successes.”
The combination of Healthways and Ascentia solutions on behalf
of the primary care physician is expected to speed adoption within
healthcare systems. That adoption is reflected in Healthways’
recently announced 10-year partnership with Texas Health Resources
(Texas Health), a large, integrated healthcare system in Dallas-Ft
Worth. Jon Scholl, Texas Health chief strategy officer, commented
on the acquisition announcement saying, “Healthways capabilities
will offer physicians a level of analytic detail and solution
support never before possible so they can intervene in ways that
are unheard of now to improve the health and well-being of their
entire panel of patients. I believe that the science-based approach
to behavior change developed by Healthways, when delivered through
the physician, is the key for sustainable success. The acquisition
of Ascentia by Healthways further illustrates their commitment to
helping physicians, healthcare systems and health plans transform
themselves to being fully capable of delivering the PDPH model in
collaborative fashion.”
Leedle concluded, “In addition to the capabilities and expertise
that Ascentia will bring to Healthways, we are confident that
physicians, healthcare systems and health plans will recognize the
commitment to improving health and well-being with the capabilities
created through this combination. I share the thoughts of Barry
Green M.D., Ascentia’s Chairman of the Board. Dr. Green stated,
‘The acquisition of Ascentia Healthcare Solutions by Healthways is
an affirmation of the value of the creative solutions, which
Ascentia has employed with great success in the greater
Philadelphia marketplace. The physicians who have provided the
clinical expertise, along with the management team, which provided
the business and technical expertise, have believed the Ascentia
model could and should serve as a template for provider groups
across the country. At a time when all stakeholders are calling for
value-driven models of care delivery, the Ascentia solutions give
provider groups and payers a platform around which they can
collaborate to ultimately provide a higher quality of health care
in a more cost effective manner. The ability of an organization
with the breadth of clients, science based solutions and a sales
and marketing force such as Healthways possesses provides us with
the opportunity to introduce the Ascentia model across the country.
We are truly excited by the prospect of helping to shape the future
of healthcare in a meaningful way.’”
About Healthways
Healthways is the largest independent global provider of
well-being improvement solutions. Dedicated to creating a healthier
world one person at a time, the Company uses the science of
behavior change to produce and measure positive change in
well-being for our customers, which include employers, integrated
health systems, hospitals, physicians, health plans, communities
and government entities. We provide highly specific and
personalized support for each individual and their team of experts
to optimize each participant’s health and productivity and to
reduce health-related costs. Results are achieved by addressing
longitudinal health risks and care needs of everyone in a given
population. The Company has scaled its proprietary technology
infrastructure and delivery capabilities developed over 30 years
and now serves approximately 40 million people on four continents.
Learn more at www.healthways.com
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