New York's Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center has been selected to be the lead tertiary-care provider in a managed-care network being created in New York City by Red Bank, N.J.-based First Option Health Plan.
Under the agreement, the New York academic medical center, which operates Presbyterian Hospital, will handle difficult medical cases, First Option's president told MODERN HEALTHCARE last week.
In addition, members of VHA Metro New York, VHA's local affiliate, will make up the base of First Option's New York City area network, said John Adessa, First Option's president and chief executive officer.
Mr. Adessa wouldn't discuss financial terms of the agreements, only that they would differ from the ownership contracts in New Jersey. First Option Health Plan of New Jersey is owned and operated by 47 hospitals and 7,500 physicians.
First Option will be filing for a New York HMO license very shortly, Mr. Adessa said. The HMO also plans to seek approvals to operate in the greater Philadelphia area and Delaware.
In seven months of operation, First Option has entered agreements to cover more than 100,000 lives, including 35,000 hospital employees and dependents at 14 network hospitals. Except where there is a union contract for health benefits in place, First Option requires its member institutions to switch to its HMO.