NAPLES, Fla.—Health Management Associates, an investor-owned hospital company based in Naples, and Florida Blue, Florida's Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee, will form an accountable care organization to serve patients in Brevard County, Fla. HMA's physicians, along with two of its hospitals—115-bed Wuesthoff Medical Center-Melbourne and 291-bed Wuesthoff Medical Center-Rockledge—will operate the ACO with Florida Blue. “This partnership with Florida Blue is designed to ensure that employers and individuals receive value through improved health and lower costs,” Alan Levine, senior vice president of HMA and president of its Florida group of 23 hospitals, said in a news release. “Accountable care models like this reduce the fragmentation of care and provide incentives to increase care coordination, to improve patient outcomes, and to lower cost,” Pat Geraghty, chairman and CEO of Florida Blue, said in the release. Florida Blue has entered accountable care contracts with several other hospitals and systems in the state. In February, the insurer and Cleveland Clinic Florida-Weston signed a letter of intent to create an accountable care arrangement. In December of last year, Florida Blue announced agreements with Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Fla.; Holy Cross Physician Partners, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and NCH Healthcare System, Naples, Fla.
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