Valhalla-based WMCHealth, which operates nine hospitals and 60 ambulatory-care sites, and not-for-profit insurer MVP Health Care, which has members in New York and Vermont, have joined in what they describe as a collaborative partnership. MVP Health Care has its headquarters in Schenectady. The new effort involves MVP Health Care clinical care managers working alongside WMCHealth health care personnel at the Westchester Medical Center to support MVP members following a hospital stay.
Through the partnership, MVP’s clinical care managers will be working alongside medical personnel within the hospital and support the insurance provider’s members as they transition home and receive follow-up care and services. Although the MVP and WMCHealth employees will remain under the separate control of their respective organizations operationally they’ll function as a connected care team.
“By bringing care coordination directly into the clinical setting and extending that support beyond discharge, the partnership helps reduce gaps between hospital and home by better aligning care plans with each member’s clinical needs with their insurance coverage to support stronger outcomes,” MVP and WMCHealth said in their announcement.
Westfair’s Westchester County Business Journal was told that if patients who are MVP members need to schedule a follow-up appointment or see a specialist after discharge, an MVP care manager will collaborate with the WMC care teams to support post-discharge planning and follow-up, helping to ensure a smooth transition of care and reducing preventable hospital readmissions.
“Patients are at the center of everything we do, and this unique partnership between a health care system and insurer will provide patients with highly coordinated care that is relentlessly focused on their long-term health and well-being beyond the hospital,” said Dr. David Lubarsky, president and CEO of WMCHealth. “By bringing clinical teams and care managers together as one connected care team, we are moving beyond a health care system built around episodic transactions and toward one built around lifelong health outcomes. This partnership represents the future of health care — creating a model for integrated, patient-centered care that can help transform lives across the Hudson Valley, New York, and beyond.”
According to Dr. Richard Dal Col, president of the insurer MVP Health Care, “The future of health care depends on how well we collaborate on behalf of the people and communities we serve. By working closely with Westchester Medical Center care teams, we’re creating a more connected and efficient care experience for our members, inside the hospital and beyond. It’s an example of how health plans and providers can come together to deliver more coordinated, sustainable care that better serves the people and communities who rely on us.”
