CVS Accountable Care Organization, a division of CVS Health, is collaborating with Long Island, N.Y.-based Catholic Health for participation in Medicare's ACO Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health initiative.
Under ACO Reach, Catholic Health and CVS ACO will jointly assume accountability for the care of almost 40,000 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. The partnership aims to strengthen care coordination by providing customized support, including home-based care, transportation support for annual wellness visits and connecting services to address social determinants of health.
The collaboration will also provide additional support to Catholic Health's primary care providers and enhance its care delivery offerings, including adding same-day access, data analytics and multidisciplinary chronic condition care management programs. Value-based payments will also be used to incentivize providers.
"As CVS's exclusive health system partner in the Long Island market, we will be able to reach more patients as a unified resource and will provide new equity-focused clinical programs and services at a time when access to high-quality health care is more important than ever," Patrick O'Shaughnessy, DO, Catholic Health president and CEO, said in an April 19 news release.
Overall, the partnership will fuel more integration, data sharing and care coordination, resulting in less fragmentation and improved outcomes, according to Mohamed Diab, MD, CEO of CVS ACO.
"We know value-based care, particularly for Medicare beneficiaries, can help dramatically improve outcomes for patients who need it most and achieve lower costs,"Dr. Diab said. "That's why value-based care as a framework is central to our broader care delivery strategy. CVS ACO is bringing to the table powerful tools to help provide coordinated, high-quality care to Medicare patients."
In January, CVS ACO formed an ACO Reach partnership with Chicago-based Rush University System for Health.