Tucson Medical Center, local physicians create nation's first 'Sustainable Health Community'

Tucson Medical Center and local physicians, with the help of health technology and services company Optum, today announced they are creating the nation's first "Sustainable Health Community," based on an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model in which hospitals, physicians, residents, employers and others share in the risk and rewards of making the health system work better for everyone.

This new model helps hospitals, participating physicians and health plans collaborate to better coordinate care, improve quality and, ultimately, increase consumers' satisfaction with the health system.

"This is a new level of collaboration among hospitals and physicians that is all focused on improving both the quality of care we provide to individuals and the overall health of our community," said Judy Rich, president and CEO of Tucson Medical Center. "We believe that Optum's capabilities help make this collaboration possible and solve some of our biggest challenges - ranging from analytics that help measure the quality of outcomes for patients, to secure networks that enable primary care physicians and specialists to share important information about their patients' care, to consulting expertise that will help us build and manage our new business model successfully."

The Tucson initiative is designed around two related but separate organizations. Southern Arizona Accountable Care Organization (SAACO), including Tucson Medical Center and independent physicians in the community, is organized to coordinate care delivery and participate in shared savings contracts. A related technology and administrative managed services organization (MSO) will provide the infrastructure support required to make SAACO successful. The MSO will be developed with a focus on office centers of excellence that support the relationship between caregivers and patients by enabling connectivity and the sharing of information to improve decision-making, promote use of best practices, and improve the continuity of care provided to Tucson residents.

Key components of the alliance include:

• Development of four Office Centers of Excellence: The Office of Analytics, Office of Technology, and Office of Contracting will be supported by health information, technology and consulting company OptumInsight, and the Office of Care Coordination will be supported by the population health management expertise of OptumHealth and OptumRx. These centers will provide the analytics to help SAACO determine areas in need of change, measure progress, and manage the information and connectivity that are the foundation for relationships among all stakeholders in the health system.
• Advanced health data and analytics capabilities: Optum will provide the information and connectivity between Tucson Medical Center and its community of independent physicians to ensure information is available to support decisions at the point of care, and that important patient health information is effectively shared among the people who care for them.
• Shared risks and rewards: Physicians participating in SAACO will share in the savings resulting from their focus on implementing best practices. Participating physicians have agreed to be measured and rewarded based upon their delivery of high-quality patient care, patient satisfaction, and reduced costs - as well as effective management of care for the chronically ill and efficient transitions of care for patients. Optum will provide the analytical tools that help physicians identify best practices and measure their own performance in these areas.

John Friend, vice president of business affairs and associate general counsel for Tucson Medical Center and CEO of SAACO, noted that shared savings will be allocated to physicians and the hospital based on achieving goals for improved health in the community and greater efficiency in the health system.

"With new capabilities that enable us to measure how our actions are making a difference in the lives of the members of our community, we will be able to establish benchmarks based on national standards, and provide data that demonstrate better quality of care, greater efficiency and, eventually, improved health for the Tucson community overall," said Friend. "We invite the interest of our industry peers and colleagues across the nation."