The Numbers Are In: Aledade Kansas ACO Delivers Higher- Quality Care, Lower Costs to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Members

November 25, 2020

Bethesda, Md. – August 14, 2018 – Today, Aledade, Inc., announced that the Aledade Kansas Accountable Care Organization (ACO) succeeded in its value-based care partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS). In the first year of the arrangement, the Aledade Kansas ACO, a group of physician-led primary care practices, improved the quality of care for more than 25,000 BCBSKS members while lowering the total costs of care across the patient population by 5.8 percent.

“Our partner practices in Kansas are leading the way in a new era of primary care by effectively transforming their practices to deliver high-quality, value-based care in both public and private payer arrangements,” said Erin Patrick, executive director of the Aledade Kansas ACO. “Aledade looks forward to continuing to work with the primary care physicians in our ACO and with Blue Cross to deliver Kansans the best possible care, while improving health outcomes and controlling unnecessary costs.”

In addition to lowering the total costs of care, the Aledade Kansas ACO’s work led to significant improvements in quality of care and better health outcomes. The ACO practices reduced emergency department visits by 8 percent and lowered the rate of inpatient admissions from 73.6 to 70.3 per 1,000 patients. In order to better track patient health and identify health risks, the ACO pushed critical preventive care services. As a result of this work, the ACO saw a 17.9 percent increase in breast cancer screenings and a 31 percent increase in well child check-up visits. The ACO accomplished this by expanding access to primary care through tech-enabled workflows, coordinating safer transitions of care following emergency department visits or hospitalizations, and embedding care management in each practice.

“The primary care providers who comprise the Aledade Kansas ACO should be proud of these outcomes and what they mean for their patients and our members,” said Michael D. Atwood, M.D., CHIE, BCBSKS vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer. “These numbers show that our value-based programs are beginning to prove that better coordinated and patient-centered care can result in better health, better experiences and lower total cost of care.”

“As an independent family physician, I have always believed that the more time I can spend with my patients keeping them healthy, the better off they’ll be. By joining an Aledade ACO, I now can practice medicine this way, improve my patients’ health, and get paid for doing so,” said Dr. Samantha Algrim of Family Practice Associates of Western Kansas, a member of the Aledade Kansas ACO.

Aledade’s agreement with BCBSKS, the state’s largest health insurer, is the company’s first commercial contract in the state and covers both self-insured and fully insured members. Through the arrangement, practices in the Aledade Kansas ACO are accountable for the total health care costs and outcomes of BCBSKS members who see them. For BCBSKS members, this means that they get to keep their primary care doctor, while benefiting from the ACO’s focus on care coordination, population health management, and use of leading technology and data analytics.

Aledade offers a new model of primary care by partnering with physicians to build and lead ACOs that allow doctors to stay independent, practice medicine like they’ve always wanted to, and thrive financially by keeping people healthy. Aledade is continuing to expand in Kansas, recruiting additional practices for two new ACOs to begin operating in 2019: the Aledade Midwest ACO and Aledade Access ACO, made up local Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).

Aledade’s national network has grown to include nearly 300 independent physician practices across 20 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that together are accountable for more than 300,000 lives and $2.5 billion in total health care spending in 30 value-based contracts.

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About Aledade
Founded in 2014, Aledade offers a new model of primary care that puts physicians back where they should be: quarterbacking their patients’ health care. Aledade partners with primary care physicians to build and lead Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that allow these doctors to stay independent, practice medicine like they’ve always wanted to, and thrive financially by keeping people healthy. Aledade provides data analytics and user-friendly technology to help doctors provide more seamless care, unparalleled regulatory expertise, best practices developed with and shared by a national network of physicians, and face-to-face practice transformation support. Aledade has established 20 ACOs that care for more than 300,000 patients.For more information, visit aledade.com.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
For more than 75 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas has built a reputation of trust with its members and contracting providers by providing outstanding customer service while quickly and accurately processing claims; fairly administering benefit plans and contracts; offering programs, services and tools to help members improve or maintain their health; and operating under the highest ethical standards while being good stewards of premium dollars. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and is the state’s largest insurer, serving all Kansas counties except Johnson and Wyandotte. For more information, visit bcbsks.com.

For more information regarding Aledade, contact:
[email protected] 
(202) 792-7200