Cooper health system to partner with AmeriHealth

Cooper University Health Care in Camden, N.J., plans to take a 20% stake in AmeriHealth New Jersey and develop an accountable care model with the health insurer.

Cooper and AmeriHealth will create new health plan offerings—including insured, self-insured and Medicare products—aimed at improving the coordination of care and delivering better care at lower costs.

The deal is one of several that are blurring the lines between healthcare providers and insurers. Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives, for example, is developing its own insurance arm. The Detroit (Mich.) Medical Center and Boston-based Partners HealthCare recently acquired insurers. In Georgia, Piedmont Healthcare and WellStar Health System said last December that they planned to launch an insurer within a year.

Cooper recently instituted an employee-centered medical home model for its 9,100 covered employees. The program gives employees with chronic conditions efficient, coordinated and close management of their care to keep them healthier and reduce their costs. As part of the new venture, Cooper also plans to implement the patient-centered medical home model in its primary-care practices in southern New Jersey.

Cooper, which is anchored by a 493-bed hospital in Camden, employs more than 500 physicians and has about 100 outpatient offices in southern New Jersey.

“Under this new partnership with AmeriHealth New Jersey, Cooper's network of advanced medical specialists and primary care physicians will provide coordinated patient care never seen before in our region,” George Norcross, chairman of Cooper's board, said in a news release.

AmeriHealth New Jersey is one of five plans in the state participating in the CMS Innovation Center's Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, a demonstration project in which private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid programs are paying providers per-month, per-patient fees to compensate them for coordinating care.

“We are proud that AmeriHealth New Jersey and Cooper are transforming healthcare by cultivating this innovative partnership with physicians and hospitals in order to manage medical costs, develop low-cost, high-quality products, and enhance the patient experience. This collaboration helps to break down the traditional barriers associated with healthcare by having two organizations work together as one to build an accountable care model—and that is what makes it so exciting,” Daniel Hilferty, president and CEO of Independence Blue Cross, AmeriHealth's parent company, said in the release.

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