Atrium Health and Novant Health will join Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s value-based payment program, Blue Premier.
The two health systems, among the largest in the state, have signed on to a multiyear arrangement with Blue Premier under which both the providers and Blue Cross NC are held jointly responsible for patient outcomes, experience and costs.
With Atrium and Novant on board for 2020, Blue Cross NC has enrolled seven of the state’s biggest health systems in Blue Premier, putting it on track for its goal of having 50% of its members in value-based contracts for the 2020 plan year.
Blue Cross NC said in the announcement that the commitment from these health systems marks the “the most rapid and comprehensive shift” to value-based payment of any health plan in the U.S.
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“Atrium Health, Novant Health and Blue Cross NC share a commitment to rewarding the things that matter to patients: higher-quality, better-coordinated care and lower cost,” said Blue Cross NC Chief Medical Officer Rahul Rajkumar, M.D., in the announcement. “We applaud the seven systems now in Blue Premier and look forward to having others join us in changing healthcare,” Rajkumar said.
Other hospitals and health systems enrolled in Blue Premier include Duke University Medical Center, University of North Carolina Health Care, Wake Forest Baptist Health, WakeMed Health and Hospitals and Cone Health.
Rajkumar said that over the past 18 months Blue Cross NC has made significant progress in establishing North Carolina as a national leader in healthcare transformation.
“This unique value-based arrangement with Blue Cross NC and Atrium Health is a great example of the innovative collaboration that can happen between care providers and insurers to make care more affordable, while also increasing the quality of care that is provided,” said Rasu Shrestha, M.D., executive vice president and chief strategy officer at Atrium Health, in the announcement.