Cigna, N.H. group form ACO

Cigna and the Granite Healthcare Network, a network of hospital organizations in New Hampshire, announced that they have formed an accountable care organization.

The hospitals that make up the Granite Healthcare Network are Concord Hospital, Elliot Health System in Manchester; Southern New Hampshire Health System in Nashua; Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover; and the Laconia-based two-hospital LRGHealthcare system, according to a news release.

Cigna said it has established 26 of what it calls “collaborative accountable care initiatives.” In March, the Bloomfield, Conn.-based insurer said it would form an ACO with Fairfax Family Practice Centers in Virginia.

“The five Granite Healthcare Network organizations share our vision for a patient-centered healthcare system that emphasizes prevention and primary care and rewards physicians for care quality and health outcomes,” Donald Curry, president for Cigna in New England, said in the news release.

Other Cigna ACO partnerships are with Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare in Memphis, Tenn.; Weill Cornell Physician Organization in New York; and Partners in Care in New Brunswick, N.J.

The Granite Health Network ACO will cover 23,000 Cigna enrollees. There are 900 participating healthcare professionals, including GHN nurses who will serve as clinical-care coordinators. The coordinators, according to the release, will use Cigna-supplied, patient-specific data to identify individuals at risk for hospital readmission as well as those who may have missed or skipped health screenings or having their prescriptions refilled. The use of data and analytics will allow healthcare providers to focus "more fully on engaging patients," Cigna said in the release.