The American Health Network, which is partnered with the Franciscan Alliance, and Indiana University Health, are creating accountable-care organizations which have been approved by Medicare. On July 9, 2012 The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that a total of 89 health care-provider organizations will be attempting to earn bonus payments by cutting down on spending for health care and meeting federal standards on numerous patient and quality measures.
There is a program known as Shared Savings which consists of over 100 health care provider groups across the nation and it’s designed to reward doctors and hospitals for working to keep residents healthy rather than for performing more medical services.
Medicare is the biggest health insurance program in the country and is designed to provide health insurance for all eligible people who are aged 65 and over. Medicare’s accountable-care program is being copies by several private insurance companies including WellPoint Inc., which is based in Indianapolis. The goal is to help reduce health care costs while improving its quality.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the way to save money is to provide patients with better coordinated health care and each accountable-care organization is helping out. In this state, each of the organizations is required to manage the health care of a minimum of 5,000 Indiana Medicare patients. There are now three Indiana-based organizations as well as three others which serve patients in the state.
IU Health, which is based in Indianapolis, is the biggest hospital network in Indiana as it has 20 hospitals located throughout the state. The company’s accountable-care organization consists of 1,837 doctors. The Franciscan Alliance operates a total of 13 hospitals in Illinois and Indiana and is partnered with the American Health Network, which is Indiana’s biggest independently owned doctor practice. Their accountable-care organization has 245 doctors on board.
Also, Deaconess Health System, which is based in Evansville, is participating in the Medicare Shared Savings program and has 323 physicians. This organization will serve Indiana Medicare beneficiaries as well as those in Kentucky and Illinois. Some Indiana seniors will be served by Quality Independent Physicians of Louisville, KY, Owensboro ACO of Owensboro, Ky., or Cincinnati-based Mercy Health Select.
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