Health insurer Cigna and the Connecticut State Medical Society-IPA in North Haven – the largest independent practice association in the state – have launched a collaborative care initiative to improve care coordination, health outcomes and patient experience.
Cigna Collaborative Care is the health insurer's approach to accomplishing many of the same goals as an accountable care organization, and this arrangement with CSMA-IPA is focused on Cigna customers who get their care from small and mid-size physician practices.
The collaborative care program will serve more than 50,000 Cigna members who receive care from more than 530 primary care physicians who are members of CSMS-IPA.
CSMS-IPA physicians will coordinate and monitor all aspects of the patients' medical care, and physician members will be reward by Cigna for meeting targets set at improving health outcomes while lowering healthcare costs.
"When we collaborate with physicians and provide incentives that reward them for results, and when there's a strong focus on prevention, wellness and care coordination, we can expect to have a healthier population and lower medical costs," said Robert Hockmuth, MD, Cigna's senior medical director for Connecticut.
Cigna has more than 100 collaborative care agreements nationwide, and this is the health insurer's ninth collaborative care agreement in Connecticut.
More articles on collaborative care:
Aetna, Rainier Health Network and others partner for collaborative care
Regional HealthPlus, Cigna launch collaborative care program
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan collaborative model saves hospitals $597M