Coventry Health Care, CHI Health St. Elizabeth, CHI Health Nebraska Heart and UniNet Expand Collaboration to Deliver High-Quality, Lower-Cost Health Care Plan to Lincoln Residents

Coventry Health Care, CHI Health St. Elizabeth, CHI Health Nebraska Heart and their provider-led clinically integrated network, UniNet, today announced an expansion to their collaboration that will offer Lincoln residents under the age of 65 access to the same quality of care and affordability previously only offered to Medicare members.

Coventry (an Aetna company), CHI Health hospitals and UniNet currently provide Medicare-eligible Coventry members with coordinated care. Beginning January 1, 2015, the new plan, called Carelink from Coventry, powered by St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center will be available to everyone in Lincoln and to all employer groups.

This plan provides a new value-based model of care, which is the future direction of health care in America. In this high value network, a team of local UniNet medical professionals will focus on keeping each Coventry member healthy rather than just providing care when they are sick. Care will be coordinated with the patient in the center. Ultimately, this model of care will help to lower health care costs, improve quality of care and lead to a healthier community.

“This high value network is a solution for what’s been plaguing the health care system for a long time,” said Dale Mackel, president of Coventry’s Nebraska operations. “Now, consumers will be at the center of a health care system that promotes wellness, provides better care for chronic conditions and uses economic incentives to reward positive health outcomes.”

With Carelink from Coventry, powered by St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center, employers and individual members can expect:

  • Access to more than 2,000 primary care physicians, specialists and advanced practice clinicians, and 28 hospitals within UniNet’s clinically integrated network;
  • Collaboration of physicians, hospitals and ancillary providers throughout the entire continuum of care;
  • Lower overall out-of-pocket costs for members who see providers that are part of UniNet’s network; and
  • Improved health outcomes through a greater emphasis on preventive care, efforts to reduce hospital readmissions and post-care follow-up.

“This statewide partnership will benefit all of the Nebraska communities where we provide care,” said Cliff Robertson, M.D., CEO of CHI Health. “To truly serve our patients, we must enter a new era of health care, one where we align with payors that share our philosophy of clinical integration and are committed to improving the long-term health and wellbeing of our communities.”

Coventry and UniNet will measure care quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction by tracking:

  • The percentage of Coventry members who receive recommended preventive care and screenings;
  • Management of patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart failure;
  • Reductions in avoidable hospital readmissions; and
  • Reductions in avoidable emergency room visits.

About Coventry Health Care of Nebraska

Coventry Health Care of Nebraska, Inc., an Aetna company, provides a range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products to employer groups, Medicare beneficiaries, Medicaid-eligibles, individuals and families across the state of Nebraska.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 45 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services, workers' compensation administrative services and health information technology products and services. Aetna's customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com and learn about how Aetna is helping to build a healthier world. @aetna

About UniNet

UniNet is a local, physician-driven, clinically integrated network bringing together providers from across the state of Nebraska and western Iowa who are dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of the communities we serve. UniNet has been in the Omaha area since 1998 and currently represents more than 2,200 independent and employed providers, 28 hospitals, affiliated ancillaries and skilled nursing facilities. UniNet builds on the successes and strengths of CHI Health and affiliated providers to improve patient health, enhance efficiency and succeed in today’s changing health care payment and delivery environments.

About CHI Health

CHI Health (formerly Alegent Creighton Health) and the Catholic Health Initiatives organizations in Nebraska and southwest Iowa integrated to create a single, regional health network with a unified mission: nurturing the healing ministry of the Church while creating healthier communities. Headquartered in Omaha, the combined faith-based organization consists of 15 hospitals, two stand-alone inpatient behavioral health facilities and more than 150 employed physician practice locations in Nebraska and southwest Iowa. With locations from Kearney, Neb. to Corning, Iowa, the health care network is the largest in Nebraska, serving residents of Nebraska, southwest Iowa and northern Kansas.

Contacts:

Coventry Health Care Media Contact
Rohan Hutchings, 773-687-5419
hutchingsr@aetna.com
or
CHI Health St. Elizabeth Media Contact
Jami Blair, 402-219-8838
jblair@stez.org

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