Catholic Health and Empire Partner to Lower Healthcare Costs by Connecting Quality to Payment

 

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY – Catholic Health and Empire BlueCross BlueShield announced today an agreement focused on new care delivery models designed to lower costs and increase value for people on Long Island. This latest multi-year agreement builds upon the longstanding relationship between the two organizations.
 

Through this innovative partnership, Catholic Health’s payment rates will be connected to improved health outcomes and quality-of-care indicators, reflecting Catholic Health’s ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality care.

 

“Value-based care is transforming the health care industry and Catholic Health is at the forefront of that transformation,” said Julie Kapoor, Senior Vice President, Revenue Management and Managed Care at Catholic Health. “Our partnership with Empire BlueCross BlueShield helps us to proactively identify opportunities to reduce the costs of care while improving patient health. The signing of this agreement will allow us to stay focused on the delivery of exceptional care while also improving access to affordable health services on Long Island.”
 

Aligning payment to quality outcomes like readmission rates, patient safety, and patient satisfaction increases preventive care, improves chronic condition management, reduces hospital admissions, incentivizes whole health and ultimately lowers costs for Long Island healthcare consumers and their employers.
 

“Our continued partnership with Catholic Health will keep care affordable for Long Islanders by aligning payments with health outcomes instead of on the volume of care provided—a win-win for employers and consumers,” said Daniel Jorgenson, Vice President, Healthcare Networks at Empire BlueCross BlueShield. “At Empire, we are focused on our mission to improve the health of all New Yorkers. When we have an innovative partner like Catholic Health, who shares our openness to creative thinking, we are better able to make a real difference in the lives of our members. There is no health system that has made a more meaningful commitment to our value-based relationship, including being the first system in New York to join with us on the Epic Payer Platform to support communications between payers and providers. We look forward to continuing to grow this important partnership.”

 

###

 

Catholic Health is an integrated system encompassing some of the region’s finest health and human services agencies. The health system has more than 16,000 employees, six acute care hospitals, three nursing homes, a home health service, hospice and a network of physician practices. Under the sponsorship of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, Catholic Health serves hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders each year, providing care that extends from the beginning of life to helping people live their final years in comfort, grace and dignity.

 

Serving New Yorkers for more than 85 years, Empire BlueCross BlueShield (Empire) is on a mission to materially and measurably improve the health of New Yorkers. Empire is the largest health insurer in New York, supporting more than 4 million members and more than 38,000 business, union and small employers in New York. Empire is the trade name of Empire HealthChoice Assurance Inc., and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO is the trade name of Empire HealthChoice HMO Inc., independent licensees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, serving residents and businesses in the 28 eastern and southeastern counties of New York state. Additional information about Empire is available at  www.empireblue.com. Follow us on Twitter at @empirebcbs and on  LinkedIn.