PORTLAND — MaineHealth said today it has signed a letter of intent to enter into a long-term partnership with agilon health (NYSE: AGL), a company that empowers physicians to transform community health.
Through the partnership, MaineHealth will work with agilon health to transform its primary care delivery system for its Medicare Advantage patients from a fee-for-service model to a sustainable value-based care model that will improve patient care while working to lower costs to the health system.
“Our partnership with agilon health is a direct reflection of our vision of ‘working together so our communities are the healthiest in America’,” said Andy Mueller, MD, chief executive officer, MaineHealth.
“Through the partnership with agilon heath, we will be accelerating the transition to a payment model defined by value and investing more deeply in our primary care delivery system. The depth of patient need, especially among our growing senior population, necessitates us to think very differently about what the primary care delivery system in our community needs to look like today and in the future.”
Value-based care is an important health care delivery model under which providers are paid based on the health outcomes of their patients and the quality of services delivered versus the quantity.
Through agilon health’s partnership model and purpose-built platform, the company has helped 17 of the nation’s best physician groups accelerate at scale their transition to a value-based, Total Care Model that places the primary care physician at the center of delivering patient care. MaineHealth is the first integrated health system to partner with agilon health.
“Through our partnership, agilon health is proud to support MaineHealth’s vision to create the nation’s healthiest communities and to help build a more sustainable model for their Medicare Advantage business,” said Steve Sell, chief executive officer, agilon health. “By helping to establish a new primary care delivery system within MaineHealth’s integrated care ecosystem, we will be able to deliver better outcomes and quality of care for their patients, particularly the most vulnerable.”
MaineHealth and agilon health have begun implementation work and will finalize their agreement in coming months, When the partnership is in place, agilon will support MaineHealth physicians in identifying patient conditions and mapping out care plans, making sure senior patients get the preventive care they need as well as ongoing management of any health concerns.
This will allow MaineHealth to more confidently enter into value-based contracts within the Medicare Advantage system that reward providers for keeping patients healthy.
“We are constantly researching better ways to provide care for our patients,” said Aileen Mickey, MD, MHA, president, MaineHealth Medical Group. “With the acceleration in the shift to value-based care across the country, this partnership is a significant milestone in ensuring we are ahead of the curve in the future of primary care delivery, and it advances our mission to provide our senior patients and communities high-quality, affordable care.”
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