This innovative model expands services available to patients.
Contacts:
Alan M. Wolf, 919-784-4467, alan.wolf@unchealth.unc.edu
Devon Brady, 984-215-4243, devon.brady@unchealth.unc.edu
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – UNC Senior Alliance, LLC, an accountable care organization (ACO) comprised of UNC Health Care providers and independent, community providers, announced today that it has been selected to participate in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’s (CMS’s) Next Generation ACO Model starting January 1, 2017. The Next Generation ACO Model is a value-based payment model that encourages providers to assume greater accountability in coordinating the health care of Medicare Fee-For-Service beneficiaries.
Doctors, hospitals, and health care providers establish ACOs in order to work together to provide higher quality coordinated care for their patients, while helping to keep health care costs affordable. UNC Senior Alliance’s physician-led network of UNC Health Care employed providers, including physicians at UNC REX, UNC Physicians Network, UNC Medical Center, and Caldwell Memorial Hospital, and independent, community providers will work together to provide evidence-based, patient-centered, coordinated care to about 24,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the Triangle and other areas of North Carolina.
“Today’s announcement is about delivering better care, smarter spending and helping to improve the health and well-being of the people we serve in our communities,” said Seth Glickman, MD, president, UNC Senior Alliance. “Being selected to participate in the Next Generation ACO Model recognizes our network’s commitment to delivering outcomes-driven, value-based care.”
“We are honored to be chosen for this innovative new model which gives our physicians additional tools, resources, and incentives to deliver more closely coordinated care for their Medicare Fee-For-Service beneficiaries,” said Stacy Mays, chief operating officer, UNC Senior Alliance. “As a participant in the Next Generation ACO Model, our patients can benefit from services such as telehealth visits, home visits after a hospital stay, and easier access to short-term nursing facilities, allowing UNC Senior Alliance providers to provide the right care, at the right time, in the right setting for each patient.”
“By listening to physicians and engaging them as partners, CMS has been able to develop innovative payment reforms that bring physicians back to the core practice of medicine – caring for the patient,” said CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt. “By reducing regulatory burden and paying for quality, CMS is offering solutions that improve the quality of services our beneficiaries receive and reduce costs, to help ensure the Medicare program is sustainable for generations to come.”
For more information on the Next Generation ACO Model, please visit the CMS Next Generation ACO Model web page.
About UNC Senior Alliance
UNC Senior Alliance is a physician-led accountable care organization (ACO) comprised of UNC Health Care employed providers and independent, community providers that have voluntarily come together in order to transform patient care and become a leader in population-health management for our growing Medicare population in North Carolina.
About UNC Health Care
With more than 30,000 employees statewide, UNC Health Care has provided high-quality, patient-centered care for more than 60 years. UNC Health Care is a not-for-profit health care system owned by the state of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. The system includes UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, the UNC School of Medicine and nine affiliate hospitals across the state. To learn more, click here.