Florida Blue and the NCH Healthcare System Create Accountable Care Arrangement

JACKSONVILLE and NAPLES, Fla., Dec. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Blue, Florida's Blue Cross and Blue Shield Company, and NCH Healthcare System (NCH) are excited to announce an agreement for NCH to participate in the Florida Blue Accountable Care Program.

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The NCH system includes the NCH Downtown Naples Hospital and the NCH North Naples Hospital , plus the 64 physicians and 25 nurse practitioners and physician assistants employed by NCH.

The overall goals of accountable care arrangements are to improve individual patient care, improve overall health and decrease medical costs. The accountable care program between NCH and Florida Blue utilizes a value-based payment structure and is one of the first commercial accountable care programs in the state.

The arrangement is designed to benefit Florida Blue members in the Naples area. During the first year of the program, only Florida Blue members participating in fully insured commercial products will be included in the program. The program will be expanded to other Florida Blue members in future years.

"We are truly excited to embark on this innovative accountable care structure and performance based arrangement with NCH Healthcare System," said Dr. Jonathan Gavras, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Florida Blue. "Both organizations realize the importance of moving away from the fee-for-service model to one that focuses on quality outcomes and cost containment."

NCH President and CEO, Dr. Allen Weiss, shared, "The NCH-Florida Blue partnership is an exciting first step to becoming an accountable care program—which promotes quality, care coordination, and total care management. Our overall goal is to improve individual care management and decrease costs while improving quality. Our patients, families, and community will all benefit by using evidence-based medicine while avoiding unnecessary emergency room visits, hospital admissions, tests, and procedures." 

About NCH Healthcare System
The NCH Healthcare System is a not-for-profit, multi-facility healthcare system located in Naples, Florida, United States.  The System is more than just two hospitals (referred to as the NCH Downtown Naples Hospital, and NCH North Naples Hospital) with a total of 715 beds. The NCH Healthcare System also has employed physicians and outpatient medical facilities in dozens of locations throughout Collier County and southwest Florida. The services offered by the NCH Healthcare System are extensive. Inpatient services include: medical, surgical, cardiac, orthopedic, obstetric, pediatric, rehabilitative, psychiatric, oncology, emergency treatment, and diagnostics.  Outpatient services include:  rehabilitation, home care, walk-in centers, wound healing, and more.  This year the system had 37,284 admissions, 87,100 emergency room visits, 3,033 births, 416 open heart surgeries, 11,282 surgical procedures, and 3,000 employee colleagues. NCH is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. For more information, visit www.NCHmd.org.

About Florida Blue
Florida Blue, Florida's Blue Cross and Blue Shield company, is a leader in Florida's health care industry. Our mission is to help people and communities achieve better health. Florida Blue has approximately 4 million health care members and serves 15.5 million people in 16 states through its affiliated companies. Florida Blue is a not-for- profit, policyholder-owned, tax-paying mutual company. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., it is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information, visit www.FloridaBlue.com.

SOURCE Florida Blue