Care Coordination

St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor (Mich.) and the University of Michigan Health System have announced a collaboration to open a new geriatric care center in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Clearwater, Fla.-based BayCare Health System and CHS Health Services, a workforce healthcare provider, announced an agreement to comanage two onsite health centers for BayCare employees, who total roughly 21,000.

ThedaCare, a five-hospital system based in Appleton, Wis., will join Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield's Blue Priority, the payer's accountable care organization network, effective June 15.

Emergency department staff spend roughly 12 minutes per hour on the online social networking site Facebook, and this time increases when patient volume and severity increase, according to a study in Journal of Medical Internet Research.

Aetna has announced an accountable care organization collaboration with Riverside Health System, a five-hospital, 941-bed system based in Newport News, Va.

The following is a list of 19 accountable care organizations that have been announced in the last three months, in alphabetical order by payor. (Note: Number 8 alone involves seven ACOs.)

Gates Vascular Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., part of Buffalo-based Kaleida Health, was founded in April 2012. The center features specialists ranging from interventional radiologists to cardiologists to neurosurgeons to vascular surgeons working together to provide comprehensive cardiac, stroke and vascular…

Of all emergency department visits, 1.5 percent resulted in a transfer to another acute-care facility in 2009, according to a statistical brief from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The National Governors Association has announced the formation of a Health Care Sustainability Task Force.

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa has formed an accountable care organization with Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Iowa City-based University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.