Florida Blue, Florida’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield company, andCleveland Clinic Florida are proud to announce the execution of a Letter of Intent, which signifies their commitment to create an accountable care program.
The overall goals of accountable care arrangements are to improve individual patient care and overall health, as well as decrease medical costs. Florida Blue and Cleveland Clinic Florida will strive to accomplish these goals by increasing collaboration and efficiency.
In addition, the program will aim to increase patient satisfaction by improving partnerships between patients and their doctors, allowing them to make healthcare decisions together. It will also improve the overall health of the population by enhancing the coordination of care among providers in the healthcare delivery system.
“Cleveland Clinic has been a leader in providing high-quality healthcare at a lower cost,” said Bernie Fernandez, MD, CEO of Cleveland Clinic Florida. “Our organization is structured around quality and efficiency and we are pleased to partner with Florida Blue on this initiative.”
The accountable care program between Cleveland Clinic and Florida Blue will utilize a value-based compensation structure and serve as another example of Florida Blue’s payment innovation efforts being deployed in the South Florida market. It will decrease medical costs by rewarding the right combination of goals, including transparency, care coordination, consumer power and lack of redundancy.
“Working with Cleveland Clinic Florida on this unique collaboration will bring direct benefits to our members in South Florida,” said Dr. Jonathan Gavras, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Florida Blue. “In the age of health care reform, both organizations realize the importance of moving away from the fee-for-service model to one that focuses on quality outcomes while reducing the cost burden for all stakeholders.”