Anthem-HealthCare Partners ACO Reports $4.7M in Savings

A California-based accountable care organization created by Anthem Blue Cross and HealthCare Partners physician groups saved $4.7 million over the first six months of 2013, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Anthem-HealthCare Partners ACO includes about 55,000 Southern California patients enrolled in PPO plans.

Details of Savings

To determine the savings, the companies compared ACO patients with a similar group of Southern California patients who were not included in the ACO.

According to the companies, the ACO was able to cut costs by reducing:

• Hospital inpatient stays by 18% per 1,000 members;
• Overall hospital admissions by 4%; and
• Visits for radiology and other laboratory tests by 4%.

Comments

Michael Belman, Anthem's medical director, said the program is unique because it involves PPO members, while most other ACOs focus on HMO members (Terhune, Los Angeles Times, 6/6).

Anthem President Mark Morgan said, "Until now, the promise of better care and lower costs via ACOs in the commercial PPO population has not been clearly documented," adding, "Through the collaboration of the medical teams at Anthem and HealthCare Partners, we are able to provide one of the first well documented reductions in medical cost trend in the national commercial PPO space" (HealthCare Partners release, 6/6).