Also winning approval are Chicago-based Presence Health, a 12-hospital system; Access Community Health Network, a Chicago-based system of clinics; and a joint effort by Swedish Covenant Hospital near Lincoln Square, Norwegian American Hospital in Humboldt Park and Mercy Hospital & Medical Center on the Near South Side.
The providers are gearing up to launch an accountable care entity by July 1, the state’s latest form of coordinated care that aims to help reduce costs in the cash-strapped Medicaid program.
In an ACE, providers manage the care of a group of Medicaid patients and eventually will have to assume the financial responsibility for all treatment within a fixed amount of money per patient. They potentially could share in savings with the state. The networks replace the traditional fee-for-service model, which critics say encourages unnecessary procedures and doesn’t provide incentives to reduce spending. Continue reading…
