November 2, 2016

Bethesda, MD and Topeka, KS – Aledade, Inc. and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS) today announced a new partnership to bring high-quality, affordable health care to Kansas patients. Aledade’s physician-led Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in Kansas will expand to provide value-based care for Kansans covered by the state’s largest health insurer. Approximately, 23,000 Kansans with BCBSKS coverage will immediately benefit from Aledade ACO practice’s high-quality care.

“This partnership allows independent primary care practices in Kansas to take advantage of value-based opportunities with Blue Cross that have previously only been available to large physician networks and hospital providers,” said Daniel J. Krifcher, chief commercial officer at Aledade. “Aledade believes primary care is the foundation of an effective health care system, and we’re excited for Kansas physicians to be at the forefront of providing high-quality, coordinated care in a scalable way.”

Andrew C. Corbin, BCBSKS president and CEO, said that this type of agreement is a natural progression of the insurer’s recent efforts to focus on quality outcomes and total cost of care as the health care system transitions away from the historic fee-for-service model. This is the fourth ACO agreement for BCBSKS and its contracting providers in recent years, but the first that bands together professional practices in the rural areas of Kansas.

“Our new partnership with Aledade allows us to extend value-based reimbursement opportunities to smaller provider offices, many of which represent the backbone of medical care in our rural communities,” Corbin said. “Blue Cross and Aledade share the common goal of wanting to reward our contracting providers for focusing on quality health outcomes for our members rather than the volume of health care services they can deliver.”

The Aledade Kansas ACO includes 15 top primary care practices throughout Kansas:

• Ashley Clinic, LLC in Chanute, Humboldt, Iola, Burlington, Independence and Neodesha;
• Bacani McKenney Clinic in Fredonia;
• Bluestem Medical, LLP in Quinter;
• Complete Family Care in Lansing;
• Family Care Center, Winfield in Winfield;
• Family Medicine Associates, P.A. in Lawrence;
• Family Practice Associates of Western Kansas, LLC in Dodge City;
• Lawrence Family Practice Center, PA in Lawrence;
• Post Rock Family Medicine in Plainville;
• Republic County Family Physicians in Belleville;
• SEK Primary Care Associates in Neodesha;
• Winfield Medical Arts, PA in Winfield.
• Hillside Medical Group in Winfield;
• Stonecreek Family Physicians in Manhattan;
• and Pratt Family Practice in Pratt.

The BCBSKS members join the 11,390 Medicare beneficiaries who already receive coordinated, value-based care through the Aledade Kansas ACO. This is Aledade’s fourth commercial contract, following its agreements with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, Florida Blue, and the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency.

Aledade offers a new model of primary care by partnering with physicians to build and lead Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) – networks of physicians who band together to deliver coordinated care to patients. The Aledade model operates under a value-based payment structure that rewards positive health outcomes for patients, instead of the volume of health care services delivered. Aledade ACOs allow doctors to stay independent, practice medicine like they’ve always wanted to, and thrive by keeping people healthy.

BCBSKS will provide the ACO with expertise and experience in care management and quality improvement, as well as comprehensive patient care data. This gives the ACO’s physicians the ability to see beyond the walls of their practice for a comprehensive view of their patients’ health, empowering the physicians to provide more seamless care.

Aledade’s partnership with BCBSKS also represents an opportunity for doctors in Kansas.

“Partnering in an Aledade ACO has helped my practice implement the technology and population health management tools needed to deliver high-quality, coordinated care. This new partnership with Blue Cross will grant us comprehensive patient care data that benefits our patients by allowing us greater insight into their health and care throughout the health system,” said Dr. Jen Brull, physician owner at Post Rock Family Practice in Plainville and Medical Director for the ACO.

In its ACOs, Aledade provides primary care physicians with unparalleled regulatory expertise; best practices from a national network of hundreds of primary care doctors; user-friendly technology and data analytics that provide visibility into the spectrum of care their patients receive outside their office; and face-to-face practice transformation support.

Since its founding in June 2014, Aledade has grown significantly, partnering with nearly 200 practices across 15 states and covering over 200,000 patients. New data shows that, in 2015, Aledade ACO practices on average increased preventive care visits by 251 percent and increased transitional care services by 175 percent, which lowered hospital readmission rates. Aledade ACOs also had a $51,000 average increase in practice revenue in 2015.

All Aledade practices offer same- or next-day appointments for patients with urgent needs, and 95 percent of Aledade physician partners provide 24 hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week patient access to an on-call doctor. All new and existing ACOs manage these cornerstones of care through Aledade’s proprietary, cloud-based technology and analytics platform.

About Aledade
Founded in 2014, Aledade offers a new model of primary care that puts physicians back where they should be: quarterbacking their patients’ health care. Aledade partners with primary care physicians to build and lead Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that allow these doctors to stay independent, practice medicine like they’ve always wanted to, and thrive financially by keeping people healthy. Aledade provides data analytics and user-friendly technology to help doctors provide more seamless care, unparalleled regulatory expertise, the best practices shared by a national network of hundreds of doctors, and face-to-face practice transformation support. Based in Bethesda, MD, Aledade is led by CEO and co-founder Dr. Farzad Mostashari, former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Since its founding in 2014, Aledade has established successful organizations in New York, Delaware, Maryland, Arkansas, West Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, Kansas, Michigan, Utah, Missouri, and Pennsylvania which care for more than 200,000 patients.

At the heart of the Aledade model is the simple, but radical, idea that Aledade only succeeds when partner practices succeed in delivering better care at a lower cost. For more information, visit aledade.com. Aledade is a registered trademark of Aledade, Inc.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
For nearly 75 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas has built a reputation of trust with its members and contracting providers by providing outstanding customer service while quickly and accurately processing claims; fairly administering benefit plans and contracts; offering programs, services and tools to help members improve or maintain their health; and operating under the highest ethical standards while being good stewards of premium dollars. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and is the state’s largest insurer, serving all Kansas counties except Johnson and Wyandotte. For more information, visit bcbsks.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 1, 2016

For more information regarding Aledade, contact:
Nick Samonas
[email protected]
(202) 792-7200

For more information regarding BCBSKS, contact:
Mary Beth Chambers
[email protected]
(785) 291-8869