Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Expands Support of Value-Based Care Resources for Independent Providers

Stellar Health Point of Care Workflow Application to Help Four Additional Health Care Organizations Achieve Care Goals and Rewards

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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

May 25, 2021, 10:00 ET

EAGAN, Minn., May 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) announced today that it has funded investments in technology and practice support resources for four independent medical care organizations across the state, allowing new capabilities in optimizing the quality of care for patients and overall financial management.

Entira Family Clinics, Integrity Health Network, St. Luke's Hospital and Winona Health are now connected to a web-based data analytics and care coordination platform from Stellar Health (Stellar), a health care technology company that provides insights into quality and cost of care measures while facilitating real-time financial rewards for appropriate care coordination practices.

In 2020, Blue Cross announced a collaboration with Stellar and the Minnesota Healthcare Network – a group of 47 independent primary care clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin – to accelerate the transition to value-based payment and provide financial resources for long-term stability. With this most recent expansion, more than 500 independent primary care providers across Minnesota are now participating in this value-based program.

"Blue Cross recognizes the transition to a value-based care payment model can be especially challenging for independent providers," said Karen Amezcua, senior director of provider partnerships at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. "That is why we're committed to providing infrastructure and financial support to independent providers participating in value-based care throughout the state, with the goal of ensuring high-quality care at a lower overall cost for our members."

Additional compensation will be provided to health care practitioners and their staff upon completion of appropriate care coordination activities. Over time, this will lead to better health outcomes, as all patient care decisions and recommendations are informed by data-driven insights and best practices.

"Managing complex health conditions is critical to delivering optimal health outcomes at a lower cost for St. Luke's patients," said Kim Terhaar, vice president of Ambulatory Care at St. Luke's Hospital. "This innovative collaboration with Blue Cross enables us to more seamlessly transition to a value-based care delivery model."

"The Stellar platform has been instrumental in supporting breakthrough performance in identifying and addressing clinical gaps in care and ensuring our providers have the information they need in their delivery of high-quality, patient-centric care to our patients," said Rachelle Schultz, president and chief executive officer at Winona Health. "The demands on physicians and clinicians are growing so we must find better ways to support them in their work so that they can focus on what is really important – the patient. Blue Cross and Stellar are helping us do just that."

"We are honored to assist Blue Cross in their effort to help independent providers find success in value-based care," said Michael Meng, chief executive officer at Stellar Health. "By rewarding each value-based action completed, Stellar and Blue Cross are helping to create economic stability for independent providers as they move away from an unsustainable fee-for-service model."

To learn more about how Blue Cross is working to improve the sustainability of health care through higher-quality care at a lower cost, please visit www.bluecrossmn.com/sustainability.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
For nearly 90 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (bluecrossmn.com) has supported the health, wellbeing and peace of mind of our members by striving to ensure equitable access to high quality care at an affordable price. We are on a mission to inspire change, transform care and improve health for the people and communities we serve by reinventing both ourselves and the broader system. Our more than 2.5 million members can be found in every Minnesota county, all 50 states and on four continents. As a proud nonprofit organization, we believe working to advance wellness for all Minnesotans is the greatest investment we can make. Our goal is nothing less than for everyone to be able to achieve their full health potential, regardless of race or other socially defined circumstances. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, which serves more than 107 million members across the U.S.

About Stellar Health
Stellar Health ("Stellar") is an independent company providing a point-of-care, cloud-based platform that activates primary care providers to achieve value-based care goals that improve patient outcomes, such as optimizing the patient care journey through transitions of care and high-value referrals and improving quality scores. The Stellar platform helps primary care practices continually engage with their patients by providing them real-time information and tangible action-based incentives for improving quality of care. Stellar Health's mission is to enable all providers to engage and succeed in value-based care by bridging the incentive gap between providers and payors. Stellar currently serves 50+ collaborations in 18 states. If you would like more information, please contact Stellar Health at [email protected] or visit their website at www.stellar.health.

SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota