Hartford HealthCare Announce Accountable Care Arrangement

ConnectiCare and the parent company of Hartford Hospital said this week they have agreed on a new accountable-care arrangement with the goal of better managing patient care and reducing medical costs.

This is the most recent of many accountable-care arrangements between health insurers and hospitals in which technology, electronic medical records and clinicians who coordinate patient care hope to reduce duplicative treatments.
The fee-for-service model and paper medical records of the past have resulted in patients getting treatments without necessarily having a clinician oversee all of the care. Medical tests are occasionally duplicated. Some patients don’t follow through on their clinical recommendations, and other problems arise that hospitals, insurers and doctors hope to resolve with accountable-care arrangements.
The ConnectiCare and Hartford HealthCare accountable care model involves “highly personalized care coordination that will improve individual health care outcomes for patients with complex health issues,” the hospital and insurer said. The plan serves about 12,000 Medicare Fee-for-Service in the Hartford region.
“Patients and providers have to be strong partners in making care decisions,” Hartford HealthCare CEO Elliot Joseph said in a prepared statement. “Our ability to jointly coordinate care and leverage medical information and technology with ConnectiCare will provide the next-generation of health for our patients.”