St. Joseph Hoag Health, CHOC Children's to jointly form accountable care organization

St. Joseph Hoag Health and CHOC Children's announced this morning that they will form an accountable care organization (ACO), bringing together outstanding health care providers throughout Orange County. With this announcement, CHOC and St. Joseph Hoag Health will ensure integrated health care delivery, serving all generations of Orange County residents with a full range of coordinated health care services.

In forming an ACO, St. Joseph Hoag Health and CHOC share in the financial and medical responsibility for managing and providing care to patients. The goals are to improve quality of patient care, enhance the patient experience and create efficiencies through collectively attending to patients' needs and avoiding unnecessary treatments.

The St. Joseph Hoag Health ACO includes eight hospitals (including CHOC Children's in Orange and CHOC Children's at Mission) and nine medical groups and affiliated physician networks, along with numerous urgent care centers, clinics and other outpatient services across Orange County. CHOC will remain independent and, to ensure continued access for those needing care, will continue to care for children outside the St. Joseph Hoag Health network.

"We are thrilled that St. Joseph Hoag Health and CHOC will now be able to work more closely in addressing the health care needs of our area's families," said Dr. Richard Afable, president and CEO of St. Joseph Hoag Health. "Together, we will ensure greater access and efficiency, collaborate on best practices, find solutions to many of our area's greatest health care needs and focus on preventive services to keep our young patients healthy. We have always said that today's health care challenges call for the brightest minds and biggest hearts, and we have truly found these qualities in the physicians and staff members of CHOC."

"CHOC, St. Joseph Health and Hoag have a long history of working together for the health and well-being of Orange County," said Kimberly Chavalas Cripe, president and CEO of CHOC Children's. "This latest collaboration aligns our outstanding clinical teams to further serve a common vision of better, more accessible care for local families. We are excited about the possibilities of this coordinated, like-minded approach and look forward to our collective efforts."

"We will provide comprehensive pediatric health care across the continuum," says Dr. Connie Bartlett, vice president of St. Jude and St. Joseph Heritage Medical Group and a practicing pediatrician. "While an accountable care organization traditionally focuses on those with HMO insurance, we see this new partnership as an opportunity to clinically integrate and deliver better care for all our patients. We want our young patients to receive the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and working toward excellent outcomes. Ultimately, all families in our care will know they have an outstanding team of doctors and nurses behind them."

Among initial activities of the St. Joseph Hoag Health and CHOC ACO are:

• Focusing on preventive health and wellness programs for local families and children
• Increasing access to health care services for all families and children
• Achieving better clinical outcomes and improving the overall patient experience at all network hospitals, medical offices and clinics
• Addressing critical pediatric and adolescent behavioral health issues
• Extending care beyond the acute hospital setting, including finding new ways to manage chronic disease on an outpatient basis
• Addressing the cost challenge of providing and receiving quality services, working with local employers and health plans to offer new services
• Developing more sites throughout Orange County that focus on wellness and preventive services