Leading Insurance Companies Join BayCare's Clinically Integrated Network

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Dec 21, 2012, 02:16 ET

CLEARWATER, Fla., Dec. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- BayCare Physician Partners recently signed contracts with three of the largest insurance companies, Aetna, Cigna and Florida Blue, to create a cutting-edge partnership and continue developing the Tampa Bay area's most comprehensive clinically integrated network.

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"These contracts represent a turning point toward creating a new, improved model of care for our area," said Bruce Flareau, MD, BayCare Physician Partners president and author of "Clinical Integration: A Roadmap to Accountable Care." "There has never been collaboration of this scale in the Tampa Bay area between health system resources, insurance companies and physicians around the goals of prevention, early detection and chronic disease management."

BayCare Physician Partners is a group of 1,100 physicians – both employed by BayCare and independent community physicians – who have agreed to work together to improve the health of their patients. These physicians came together in collaborative work groups and a governance structure to develop 17 evidence-based performance measures around improved coordination, quality and efficiency.

To create this new model of care, BayCare Physician Partners spent more than a year developing the network and recruiting physicians with backing from BayCare, the area's leading health system with 10 not-for-profit hospitals, home care, laboratories and outpatient facilities. The third piece of the formula was adding partnerships with insurance companies to create a new way of compensating physicians for achieving agreed-upon performance measures and exceptional patient care.

With better coordination between insurance companies and physicians, the network can drive an improved care delivery system for Tampa Bay area residents. For example, diabetic patients typically only visit their primary care physician when complications arise from their condition. Through BayCare Physician Partners, the insurance company could alert physician offices when patients skip filling essential prescriptions or when they are due for a check-up.

"We are coming together to create a better, more coordinated care model because we believe this new approach is best for our patients and ultimately leads to a healthier Tampa Bay community," Flareau said.

About BayCare Physician Partners
BayCare Physician Partners is a clinically integrated network designed for the future of care. The network is a new model of care that brings physicians and BayCare's resources into a more clinically and financially aligned business partnership. BayCare Physician Partners also has the flexibility to better prepare participating physicians for changes to the nation's health care system driven by government reform. www.BayCarePhysicianPartners.com

SOURCE BayCare Health System