Innovation Health is a health plan partnership between Falls Church, Va.-based Inova Health System and insurance giant Aetna. Here are seven things to know about the company.
1. Innovation Health launched October 1, 2013. The exclusive partnership between Inova and Aetna created a 
jointly owned health plan serving more than 172,000 members in Northern Virginia. David Notari, who previously served as Aetna's national head of distribution and channel management for the company's small group and individual business, serves as CEO of Innovation Health.
2. Innovation Health was spurred by a "vision of reengineering the healthcare system to work together." According to Mr. Notari, Innovation Health was driven by the understanding that the healthcare system needs to change to curb its tremendous annual waste and overall spending.
"We want what the members want," says Mr. Notari. "A system that's easy to navigate, predictable and can keep them healthy. When you think about how hospitals and payers have typically related, it's been an adversarial relationship. When a contract comes up to bid and it's time to renew and go back to the negotiation table, it always shows up in the media how they're pitted against each other. Innovation Health brings the hospital and payer onto the same team for the first time — aligned around the same goal of providing the best care at the best price for consumers and employers in Northern Virginia."
3. The health plan partnership focuses on four key components of healthcare: Physician, patient/member, health system and health plan. With an emphasis on the team approach to care delivery, Innovation Health combines the strengths of each of these four components to improve consumers' use of technology to guide healthcare decisions, information sharing among providers and insurers, advanced healthcare delivery systems and aligned incentives.
4. "The beauty of our program is our care delivery and care management," says Mr. Notari. Innovation Health has enhanced care coordination and case managers with access to real-time data, including claims data and hospital census data. Care coordinators review the census data on a daily basis for patients in Inova hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and emergency departments, and analyze this across patients' medical history and health risk assessments. From there, care coordinators can identify potential gaps in care that can be quickly addressed before a health crisis occurs.
5. Innovation Health helps members make better healthcare decisions. High-deductible health plans are on the rise, meaning patients are responsible for a higher proportion of the cost of care. Innovation Health provides the Member Payment Estimator Tool, which allows members to identify and compare the cost of various services and procedures before they actually access the care.
"Shopping for healthcare is now similar to shopping for other goods on Amazon," says Mr. Notari. The Member Payment Estimator Tool specifically incorporates each individual's benefit plan so members can view the true costs of services.
6. Innovation Health is preparing to roll out a new online way for small businesses to offer benefit plans and enroll members, according to Mr. Notari.
"Today, 90 percent of the information that comes in from small employer groups is incomplete," says Mr. Notari. "This requires back and forth phone calls between the consumer, the employer, the broker and insurer."
With an online enrollment system, prospective members can easily select their benefits and complete all necessary information to expedite their enrollment. "This will be easier and more efficient for the small business owner, its employees and for us," Mr. Notari added.
7. The health plan-health system partnership offers consumers enhanced benefits. Individuals will be allowed to choose from up to 10 plan designs to best meet their needs, expanding the range of choice from typical employer plan offerings. Additionally, according to Mr. Notari, Innovation Health is able to negotiate significant discounts with providers to ensure members have access to the lowest prices possible.
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