Allina, HealthPartners partnership aims to lower costs by making care more effective

[Star Tribune, April 13, 2021] Allina Health and HealthPartners are forming a new cooperative arrangement to create financial incentives for healthier outcomes and lower costs for patients. The new arrangement by the competing health care providers applies to roughly 150,000 people across the state who get care at Allina hospitals and clinics but have HealthPartners as their insurer.

The arrangement provides Allina financial incentives to do things such as cut down on hospital admissions or readmissions through routine and preventive care, sharing of electronic health information, and better screening for social determinants of health.

The five-year partnership continues a trend of "accountable care" and "value-based" relationships among organizations that traditionally compete or work at arm's-length. Rather than pay a fee for each service, accountable care groups set up financial incentives for better patient outcomes and more efficient operations.

"It's a value-based arrangement built on a long-term relationship between two organizations that some would see as competitors, but we see as collaborators, to improve the health of the community," Allina Health CEO Dr. Penny Wheeler said Tuesday.

Read the full story online at www.startribune.com.

Posted on April 13, 2021 in Leadership, leadership