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ST. LOUIS - To address growing employer and consumer demand for high quality, more affordable health care, Mercy and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Missouri (Anthem) have entered into a cooperative care agreement that promises improved health, lower costs and a better overall patient experience. The collaboration will unite Mercy’s high-performance care delivery network and Anthem’s Cooperative Care value-based care reimbursement model to create an arrangement in Missouri that will benefit health care consumers and employers by aligning incentives to successfully drive the highest quality results at a lower cost.
“We must think differently about access to care, especially after seeing the impact of COVID-19,” said Shannon Sock, Mercy executive vice president of strategy and CFO. “Our patients want easy and convenient care 24/7, whether digital, virtual or in medical clinics and hospitals. Working with Anthem, we’re able to reach our patients where they are and keep them connected and safe. We’re leveraging extensive data insights so we can intervene earlier, closing gaps and improving the health and care experience of patients while working to lower costs.”
The new agreement builds on an earlier Mercy and Anthem collaboration to transform health care across Missouri. Mercy has been a long-time participant and one of the nation’s best integrated providers in Anthem’s Enhanced Personal Health Care program, a value-based care reimbursement model that measures and financially rewards improved health results and efficiency. The new Cooperative Care agreement takes that methodology one step further by incorporating activities to improve the patient experience, increase data flow between Mercy and Anthem and more fully align financial incentives. Through the model, reimbursement to Mercy providers correlates to results-based quality metrics and patient satisfaction.
“As we continue our work to improve access to high quality and affordable health care, we are pleased to work with one of our leading providers. This model leverages the strengths of two leading health care organizations that are deeply committed to Missouri,” said Amadou Yattassaye, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Missouri. “This highly collaborative model provides a reimbursement structure and data flow that enables primary care physicians and specialists to coordinate more closely, close gaps in care and optimize results. This is a first-of-its-kind model in Missouri that we hope will continue to grow.”
Mercy, one of the 25 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized quality care and one of the nation’s largest Accountable Care Organizations. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including more than 40 acute care, managed and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has 900 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 4,000 Mercy Clinic physicians and advanced practitioners, and more than 40,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
