Montefiore Medical Center, a leading academic medical center and the University Hospital for Albert Einstein College of Medicine and UnityPoint Health, which is headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa and is the nation's 13^th largest nonprofit health system, announced that UnityPoint Health met with Montefiore's leadership to learn about their strategies for overcoming barriers to effective, quality care and identifying the tools and collaborations needed to support patients in a risk-based environment. 

For more than 17 years, Montefiore has used a value-based care strategy that takes full responsibility for patients. The patient-centered model integrates hospital and ambulatory-based care with extensive care coordination programs. The innovative approach across the continuum of care helps to improve patient experiences and health outcomes. 

“Our success as a Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) builds on our long-term experience taking risk and makes us uniquely qualified to demonstrate how focusing on quality, patient outcomes and underlying drivers of cost can help address critical health issues and the challenges providers face in a fee-for service structure,” said Stephen Rosenthal, vice president, Network Management, Montefiore. “We have been excited to share the strategies and tactics that have allowed us to make a positive impact on our patients’ lives and continue to look forward to thoughtful exchange about how our health systems can advance the future of healthcare.” 

The effective coordination of healthcare services and collaboration across different providers and organizations are key components to improving patient outcomes and quality of care. Montefiore will advise UnityPoint Health about its care guidance processes and roles that State and Federal partners have played in supporting population health management. 

“ACOs are designed to provide the high quality care people deserve, while slowing increases in healthcare spending,” said Kevin Vermeer, UnityPoint Health’s executive vice president and chief strategy officer.  “We enjoyed learning from Montefiore about its novel approaches to addressing gaps in care and how the system has navigated complex patient environments. We look forward to engaging in creative thinking about the barriers we face in UnityPoint Health regions and how we can apply new models of care to broad public health opportunities.” 

In addition to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries attributed to its Pioneer ACO, Montefiore Care Management provides care coordination and disease management services to approximately 350,000 members of Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage and commercial health plans and beneficiaries of a State Medicaid Health Home in the Bronx and Westchester.

Over the years, Montefiore has met with clinicians and administrators from hospitals and health systems across the United States as well as with a number of foreign countries to discuss its approach to care management and programs. Since creation of the Pioneer ACO model, Montefiore has also provided input to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services about expanding the reach and community impact of ACOs.

UnityPoint Health Partners, the ACO division of UnityPoint Health provides care throughout the nine regions of UnityPoint Health to more than 300,000 beneficiaries through relationships with approximately 2,500 independent and employed physicians and providers, hospitals as well as home care services.