Cigna and the Greater Baltimore Health Alliance have launched a collaborative accountable care initiative to expand patient access to health care, improve care coordination, and achieve the “triple aim” of improved health (quality), affordability and patient satisfaction.
Greater Baltimore Health Alliance is an accountable care organization of employed and community-based physicians affiliated with GBMC HealthCare system, parent company of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center hospital. The program, Cigna’s first collaborative accountable care initiative in Maryland, became effective April 1.
Collaborative accountable care is Cigna’s approach to accomplishing the same population health goals as accountable care organizations, or ACOs. The program will benefit approximately 3,000 individuals covered by a Cigna health plan who receive care from among more than 90 Greater Baltimore Health Alliance physicians practicing at 17 locations in central Maryland.
“Our vision is to become the health care system where everyone, every time gets the care that we would want for our own loved ones — the best possible health outcomes, with the best possible care experience, with the most joy for those providing the care, at the lowest possible cost,” said Mark Lamos, M.D., Medical Director, Greater Baltimore Health Alliance. “Through our collaboration with Cigna, we are working to transform care to be better coordinated and to increase value through the eyes of the patient.”
Under the program, Greater Baltimore Health Alliance physicians monitor and coordinate all aspects of an individual’s medical care. Patients continue to go to their current physician and automatically receive the benefits of the program. Individuals who are enrolled in a Cigna health plan and later choose to seek care from a doctor in the medical group will also have access to the benefits of the program. There are no changes in any plan requirements regarding referrals to specialists. Patients most likely to see the immediate benefits of the program are those who need help managing chronic conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease.