Philly Physicians Partner to “Capture the Bundle”

Almost 1, 000 healthcare providers in the Philadelphia area have formed a clinically integrated partnership with NueHealth to “connect them to healthcare consumers across the region, providing value-based payment options and improved outcomes alongside an improved model for healthcare delivery.”

NueHealth is a privately held organization specializing in clinically integrated provider networks (IPNs), custom benefit and bundled payment programs, and healthcare facility development and management. The partnership with Philadelphia’s Integrated Physician Associates is called NueHealth Greater Philadelphia. The providers include a variety of specialties in some of the most recognized hospitals and facilities in the region, including: The Rothman Institute, Cardiology Consultants of Philadelphia, ENT and Allergy Specialists, Bryn Mawr Medical Specialist Association and United Anesthesia Services PC.

According to Stuart Brilliant, M.D., chairman, NueHealth Greater Philadelphia, “Healthcare change is coming like a freight train, but this is a real entity affecting real change in the market. This network will allow our physicians to maintain their autonomy, provide better quality care and increase patient volumes through the use of new sophisticated technology made available through our partnership with NueHealth.”

A February 8, 2016 announcement says the integration of key technologies “will give physicians access to real time data that ensures patients get the care they need, such as careful monitoring of chronic health conditions to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and ER visits, while simultaneously decreasing duplicate testing, radiation exposure, healthcare costs and premiums for patients in the region.”

The partnership will work directly with employers to “take advantage of opportunities available in networks like Greater Philadelphia.” Employers can then provide tailored healthcare services to their employee populations at “significantly reduced rates” by working with NueHealth partners, all of whom will participate in bundled pricing plans and offer special contract rates to clients coming through the network. Physician members will begin to negotiate contracts with payors in 2016.

Employers are told that the partnership’s educational tools and resources will keep them up to speed on the healthcare industry as it evolves, while bundled payments and lower-cost contracts allow the employers to offer tailored, cost-effective plans to its employees.

It’s not surprising to see the Rothman Institute in the forefront of this partnership. The Institute’s founder, Dick Rothman, M.D., has been urging his colleagues in orthopedics and spine to “capture the bundle” for years as payment models move from fee-based to value-based models.