Care Coordination

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente has partnered with the city of Aurora, Colo., to open a health center for city employees, according to a Denver Post report.

First Coast Health Alliance, a physician hospital organization established by St. Augustine, Fla.-based Flagler Hospital that includes 188 physicians, has partnered with Florida Blue for an accountable care program.

Englewood, Colo.-based Centura Health has announced a clinical collaboration agreement with Walgreens to coordinate and expand healthcare services for patients within Centura's market.

The high ratio of intensive care unit beds to population may be inflating the demand for ICU care, driving up costs of care in the U.S., according to a viewpoint in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Harrisburg, Pa.-based PinnacleHealth System and Capital BlueCross are offering a new health insurance plan — CareConnect Point of Service — to employers, driven by their existing accountable care arrangement.

Accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical home have shown positive impacts on reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes, according to Treo Solutions' analysis of its early-adopter clients.

Three hospitals in New Hampshire joined Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock Pioneer accountable care organization Jan. 1, and the ACO has been renamed "allwell."

Of the early Medicare accountable care organizations — those that joined the program before fall 2012 — just 46 percent involved a hospital, according to new analysis from The Commonwealth Fund.

Hospitals and health systems in the U.S. have been facing a new challenge lately: taking on risk. Many organizations are taking on risk through new contracts with payers, but others are taking risk-baring to another level: becoming a provider-sponsored health…

Accountable care initiatives are changing the way healthcare is delivered and consequently reducing hospital inpatient utilization among all ages and most service lines, according to a new study from Health Affairs.