Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New Hampshire and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, the state's largest healthcare provider, have launched a pilot that aims to improve quality outcomes while slowing the rate of healthcare cost increases. If successful, the program would eventually lead to the formation of an accountable care organization.
"Dartmouth-Hitchcock is in a unique position because of the broad range and reach of its services, as well as its academic mission and affiliations. Anthem is the largest and most innovative insurer in the country," said Douglas J. Wenners, president and general manager at Anthem. "Together, Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Anthem will work to improve healthcare delivery and affordability."
Under the program, Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock will manage both the quality and costs of care for a specific population of Anthem members.
"We view this as another of our steps toward changing the way healthcare is delivered," said Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health President Thomas A. Colacchio, MD. "The concept is to bring together the hospital, the physician group practice, and the insurance carrier all with the same goal – to provide high quality, cost-effective care to those we serve."
A growing number of insurers and providersare launching similar pilots in different markets across the country. In September, CIGNA announced a similar program with Atlanta-based Piedmont Physicians Group involving 10,000 CIGNA members and more than 100 Piedmont doctors. Further, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid plans to launch a Medicare ACO pilot and a Medicaid pediatric ACO demonstration project by next year.
It's not surprising that Dartmouth-Hitchcock is jumping on the ACO bandwagon. Elliot Fisher, MD, a professor at Dartmouth Medical School and part of the Dartmouth Institute, is one of the originators of the ACO concept. In addtion, the Brookings Institute and Dartmouth have collaborated on the Brookings-Dartmouth Accountable Care Organization Learning Network, which provides information and resources to organizations looking at the feasibility of establishing an ACO.
The collaboration between Anthem and Dartmouth-Hitchcock is also the latest in a growing list of partnerships between the two. They have collaborated in Anthem's Blue Distinction programs as well as Anthem's Quality Hospital Incentive Program (Q-HIP) and began work this year on a nationally recognized program to treat low back pain. Each is also a participant in New Hampshire Citizens Health Initiative, which has championed the ACO movement.