Sentara Healthcare, Norfolk, Va., and Mountain States Health Alliance, Johnson City, Tenn., are forming an accountable care organization.
The ACO will include Sentara's insurance arm, Optima Health, and a Mountain States' for-profit subsidiary, Integrated Solutions Health Network, which operates an accountable care organization and a Medicare managed-care plan, CrestPoint Health.
The joint venture is among the latest of a proliferation of private accountable care contracts since Medicare ACOs were included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Mountain State's existing ACO, AnewCare Collaborative, holds one of more than 200 accountable care contracts with Medicare under the Affordable Care Act's shared-savings program.
Sentara includes 10 Virginia hospitals, and Mountain States operates 12 hospitals in Tennessee and Virginia.
The new joint-venture ACO will operate in southwest Virginia and is being marketed to shoppers in Virginia's health insurance exchange, said Sharon Poulos, director of strategic expansion partnerships for Optima.
The ACO's narrow network includes providers in Mountain State's Integrated Solutions Health Network, which contracts with some non-Mountain State's providers.
Providers in the ACO may receive bonuses if the ACO reaches quality and spending targets, Poulos said.
Follow Melanie Evans on Twitter: @MHmevans
