[May 27, 2015]

WakeMed Key Community Care and UnitedHealthcare Collaborate to Improve Patient Care Across the Triangle

WakeMed Key Community Care (WKCC), an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) created by WakeMed Health & Hospitals, WakeMed Physician Practices and Key Physicians, and UnitedHealthcare are collaborating to improve care coordination and enhance health services for Triangle-area residents enrolled in UnitedHealthcare's employer-sponsored health plans who receive care from a WKCC primary care physician.

Through the new accountable care relationship that begins June 1, 2015, UnitedHealthcare and WKCC will integrate and deliver valuable health resources in a more coordinated way to support better health in the Triangle and across the state.

WKCC has been an approved participant in the Medicare Shared Savings Program since Jan. 1, 2014. A collaboration between WakeMed and Key Physicians, the largest network of independent primary care physicians in the Triangle, WKCC provides patients with access to more than 400 community physicians.

Doctors, hospitals and insurers participate in accountable care programs to deliver enhanced coordination of care and provide resources that help reduce costs and improve quality of care for patients. These efforts can benefit patients in a variety of ways across their health care experience, from a routine check-up or ongoing disease management, to an unforeseen trip to the emergency department.

WKCC's partnership with UnitedHealthcare offers new opportunities for care providers to work closer together to help patients manage and improve their health, while keeping costs under control. Participating care providers will focus on:

• proactive services to help patients receive preventive care, such as immunizations and screenings;
• tools, materials and outreach to help patients better manage their chronic diseases;
• staff to help patients navigate care at the right level, at the right time, in the right setting; and safer, more effective care as a result of shared knowledge and best practices among health care providers.

"We're pleased to partner with UnitedHealthcare to improve both the quality and value of care patients receive when they see a WKCC care provider," said John Rubino, M.D., WKCC chairman of the board. "Together, we can continue to improve the patient experience while making an impact on the health of our community."

WakeMed Key Community Care's new relationship with UnitedHealthcare will help shift North Carolina's health care system to one that rewards quality and valu instead of the volume of procedures performed. WKCC is among 250 new accountable care programs UnitedHealthcare has committed to in 2015 as it engages in deeper, more collaborative relationships with physicians and hospitals across the United States. UnitedHealthcare has more than 520 accountable care programs active today.

"Our collaboration with WakeMed Key Community Care will help connect the people we collectively serve to the most effective care, place a greater focus on the quality of their care and compensate care providers for improving patients' health," said Garland Scott, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of the Carolinas.

UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored plan participants who currently receive care from physicians participating in WKCC will automatically benefit from this new relationship.

Care providers nationwide are showing strong interest in a shift to value-based care. UnitedHealthcare's total payments to physicians and hospitals that are tied to value-based arrangements has nearly tripled in the last three years to $38 billion. By the end of 2018, UnitedHealthcare expects that figure to reach $65 billion.

UnitedHealthcare serves more than 1 million North Carolina residents with a care provider network of 143 hospitals and nearly 25,000 care providers statewide.

About WakeMed Key Community Care
WakeMed Key Community Care is an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) established to enhance the quality and coordination of health care, and reduce the costs of care by providing more value for patients. ACOs enable medical providers to work closer together to create healthier communities and help Triangle-area patients better manage their health. A collaboration between WakeMed Health & Hospitals and Key Physicians, WakeMed Key Community Care brings together a network of more than 220 independent Key primary care physicians with a leading health system and another 250 primary and specialty care providers from WakeMed Physician Practices. The partnership is designed to ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time at the right level, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors. WakeMed Key Community Care received approval as a Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO in December 2013. It is a limited liability company in which WakeMed Health & Hospitals and Key Physicians are members. For more information, visit www.wakemedkeycc.org.

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 850,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter (News - Alert). For more information about UnitedHealthcare's full spectrum of value-based initiatives, visit www.AccountableCareAnswers.com.

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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150527005171/en/

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