Caravan Health and Texas Hospital Association Team Up to Improve Patient Care Through Texas' First Statewide Accountable Care Organization

KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Texas Hospital Association and Caravan Health introduced a new partnership for Texas hospitals in their missions to improve patient care and achieve financial stability. Through the new collaborative, THA and Caravan Health will launch Value TX Health, a statewide clinically integrated network focused on achieving the scale and process improvements needed for hospitals and other health care providers to succeed under value-based payment models. The new initiative will provide Texans enrolled in Medicare with coordinated, high-quality health care and provide hospitals with the support they need to succeed under risk-based payment models.

"Texas hospitals are committed to improving health outcomes while delivering cost savings as our industry transitions to value-based care," said Ted Shaw, THA president/CEO. "Through this new collaboration, Texas hospitals are empowered to build strong community connections, improve outcomes for patients, support physicians, scale approaches that we know work and deliver more accessible, affordable high-quality health care." 

The collaborative will focus first on building a comprehensive readiness program for THA member hospitals to guide and support hospitals in the transition to value-based care models and the complex requirements behind them. The second phase will focus on increasing the number of hospitals successfully participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). The operation focuses specifically on current challenges facing hospitals looking to take on new care models but with limited resources.

"The Texas hospital industry has launched several successful ACOs, but for smaller hospitals, the resources needed to devise a successful program are significant," said Lance Lunsford, president/CEO of THA's HealthShare program, which will oversee the partnership. "Our partnership with Caravan Health is based on research from a variety of our hospital leaders to help mold a clinically integrated network that helps hospitals succeed in their move to value-based payments."

In early 2019, Caravan Health launched the first statewide collaborative ACO in Mississippi. In this model, the state hospital association acts as a convener to connect hospitals with Caravan's unique methodology of population health, governance and accountability. This collaborative ACO allows hospitals to achieve the scale necessary for success in the MSSP. Since the first launch, Florida and Idaho both have started statewide ACOs supported by Caravan Health.

Caravan Health's mission is helping community health systems thrive in value-based care. In 2017, Caravan Health ACOs surpassed nationwide ACO performance with total savings of more than $54 million and quality scores of 94 percent. Along with Medicare savings, Caravan Health ACOs earned shared savings of more than $15 million – dollars that are routed directly back to the providers doing the work of delivery system reform – and created a reliable new payment stream for participating hospitals.

"Caravan Health has a proven methodology for population health that works for hospital associations across the country who are leading the way in accountable care," said Lynn Barr, Caravan Health CEO and Founder. "Our work with THA is an important next step in creating a statewide clinically integrated network that will bring quality care and cost savings to providers and patients across the great state of Texas."

About Caravan Health

Caravan Health is the national leader of successful accountable care and population health programs for community health systems. Caravan Health works with more than 250 health systems, 14,000 providers, and more than 1,000,000 patient lives to drive quality, financial benefits, and strong physician relationships in accountable care organizations. For more information visit www.CaravanHealth.com.

About Texas Hospital Association

Founded in 1930, the Texas Hospital Association is the leadership organization and principal advocate for the state's hospitals and health care systems. Based in Austin, THA enhances its members' abilities to improve accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of health care for all Texans. THA represents 452 of the state's non-federal general and specialty hospitals and health care systems, which employ some 369,000 health care professionals statewide. Learn more about THA at www.tha.org.

SOURCE Caravan Health

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