Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and Southwestern Health Resources are coming together to form an Accountable Care Organization that will coordinate services to serve Blue Cross’ more than 130,000 members in North Texas, according to Pharmiweb.
The agreement provides access to Southwestern Health Resources Accountable Care Network, which was established as a partnership between Texas Health Resources and UT Southwestern Medical Center that includes doctors, caregivers, hospitals and other facilities throughout the region.
An Accountable Care Organization is a group of healthcare providers who voluntarily join to coordinate care to medicare patients. They hope to avoid duplication and errors while delivering high-quality care and spending more wisely.
Partnerships between healthcare providers and insurance companies is becoming more common. Just this month, the Department of Justice approved a $69 billion merger between insurance giant Aetna and CVS, whose nearly 90 million members have filled 2.5 billion prescriptions there. CVS’ minute clinics have served 37 million Americans at its Minute Clinics, according to CVS. Aetna has almost 39 million members according to their website.
“We are excited about our collaboration with Southwestern Health Resources and its Southwestern Health Resources Accountable Care Network,” Dr. Dan McCoy, president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, told Pharmiweb. “The agreement further affirms our commitment to population health and a coordinated-care model that ensures high-quality care and at a reasonable cost for our members and their patients.”
