An ambitious primary care company co-owned by Philadelphia's dominant insurer is growing, recruiting new provider partners and getting scale for more patients.
Tandigm Health, a new primary care venture started by Independence Blue Cross and for-profit dialysis giant Davita HealthCare Partners, has made what executives are calling a "landmark" deal -- signing on its first hospital partner, Holy Redeemer Health System and its affiliated physician network.
Tandigm's model, similar to the patient-centered medical home, is aimed broadly at chronic disease management, with the goal of supporting primary care practices to improve the patient experience, reduce duplication and avoid unnecessary emergency and acute care.
Independence Blue Cross gives a percentage of insurance premiums to Tandigm, which pays and works with primary care practices to oversee groups of members, focusing on prevention and wellness in at-risk populations.
With Holy Redeemer Hospital and its 75-physician practice, the Innovative Wellness Alliance, Tandigm's physician network will have 350 doctors serving Independence members. Currently, Tandigm providers are caring for about 90,000 of the insurer's members throughout greater Philadelphia.
"Enthusiasm for our model among primary care physicians in our region has exceeded our expectations," said Tandigm Health CEO Anthony Coletta, MD, a surgeon and former Independence senior vice president. The agreement with Holy Redeemer "accelerates our vision to improve quality and lower the costs of healthcare in one of the largest and most expensive healthcare markets in the United States."
The company is banking on using a renaissance of primary care combined with modern data analysis to solve the related problems of chronic disease management and high healthcare costs.
"Returning primary care physicians to the center of healthcare," is how Tandigm bills its mission. "The best parts of something old can be combined with the best parts of something new to create something exceptional."
Tandigm is one of two primary care-focused management ventures that DaVita is involved with around the country. Best known for its vast dialysis network and one of its largest investors, Warren Buffett, Denver-based DaVita is also helping run medical groups and physician networks in California, Colorado Nevada, Florida, Arizona and New Mexico.
Based in West Conshohocken, PA Tandigm currently employs about 40 people and works with several physician practices in the city and suburbs.
With Holy Redeemer in the network, the Tandigm network will have a broad portfolio in a competitive region-- 75 physicians, the 242-bed hospital, several outpatient clinics and urgent care centers, a home health service, long-term care facilities and seniors housing locations.
Aligning itself with southeastern Pennsylvania's largest insurer through a Tandigm partnership may also be a sound strategy for Holy Redeemer.
The nonprofit Catholic health system reported a $2.1 million operating income for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2014, equal to an operating margin of 0.6 percent, and has a BBB stable rating from Fitch. But the region overall is competitive and becoming more so. Drexel University health economist Robert Fields argues that greater Philadelphia has too many hospital beds.
Holy Redeemer is one of more than a dozen independent hospitals and health systems in the region, including a pending mega-merger of Thomas Jefferson University and Abington Health System, its main rival.
The "collaborative relationship" with Tandigm, said Holy Redeemer CEO Michael Laign, "will advance necessary change in our region to bring value to the healthcare consumer, employers and others who pay for healthcare services."
Carl Rosenbaum, MD, the president of affiliated physicians network and medical director of Holy Redeemer home care and population management, also sees Tandigm's model as promising. "As primary care physicians, our goal is to keep our patients healthy and guide them to the most effective care they may need, from home care to hospital care," he said.