CVS Accountable Care Organization (ACO) announced this week that it is collaborating with Catholic Health and Catholic Health Physician Partner’s ACO to improve healthcare access and expand value-based care for over 40,000 Medicare beneficiaries in New York’s Nassau and Suffolk counties. The partnership is being widely applauded by health equity proponents.
Under the ACO Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health program, both organizations will be accountable for the healthcare of Medicare beneficiaries, and the partnership aims to strengthen care coordination for patients by providing customized support.
The collaboration is based on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation’s redesigned direct contracting model, ACO REACH, and it prioritizes health equity, the coordination of care among healthcare providers to improve outcomes, and the reduction of unnecessary medical costs by moving patients towards value-based care.
Through this partnership, CVS Health is positioning to improve healthcare access and the quality of care for patients they serve, including with a dedicated focus on advancing health equity for their various constituencies, such as their customers, colleagues, clients, and communities.
As the first of its kind initiative within New York’s Long Island geography, the partnership is being watched closely as a potential model to be replicated in other areas both in and outside New York in the coming years.
