CHESS is pleased to announce it has formed a strategic partnership with Park Ridge Health in Hendersonville, North Carolina. This new relationship will establish Park Ridge Health as the anchor for a new Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in the western part of the state, one of several managed by CHESS. This new ACO will comprise all 140 Park Ridge Health providers and several dozen independent physicians in the region, improving coordination of care for the patients of western North Carolina.
The ACO model, which focuses on high quality care, improved patient satisfaction and reduced cost of care, is very consistent with the Park Ridge Health tradition of providing the highest quality care to patients at the greatest value. Through the relationship with CHESS, Park Ridge Health and its fellow ACO providers will join the 2300+ providers aligned with CHESS throughout the state. CHESS has achieved great success in working with health systems to better manage the care of their patient population, including meeting exceptional quality standards and realizing savings for participating entities. One of its clients, Cornerstone Health Care, was recognized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as the 6th top performing ACO in the country on quality measures (#1 for quality in North Carolina) and achieved significant cost savings in the last reporting year. As a result, Cornerstone was selected as one of only 21 ACOs to move to the Next Generation ACO model (this innovation model encourages expanded integration with care providers, such as skilled nursing facilities, who meet high quality standards).
“By partnering with one of the largest and most successful population health organizations in the state, we believe we will be able to enhance the benefits we offer to patients throughout our community,” said Jason Wells, Chief Operating Officer Park Ridge Health Physician Enterprise. “We will be driving access to even more comprehensive care, meeting our commitment to continuously improve quality, focusing on providing the right care at the right time and place, and bringing an unprecedented scope of care to our region. By collaborating with leading health care providers across the state, we will now be able to offer our patients more options designed to meet all of their health care needs.”
“Partnering with CHESS will cement Park Ridge Health’s abilities to stay at the head of health care reform changes while maintaining our excellent quality of care,” said Jimm Bunch, Park Ridge Health CEO. “We will be working with CHESS partners like Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center which has a proven track record in shifting reimbursement methods to payment models based on quality, outcomes and cost.”
“We are going to make it easier for people to access health care,” said Bruce Perlman, M.D., Medical Director for Clinical Integration at Park Ridge Health. “Rather than concentrating exclusively on treating disease after it has occurred (the way the health care world has worked historically), , the ACO model provides a more proactive approach to care, focusing on prevention and identifying health issues before they become critical. Park Ridge Health has always been passionate about keeping people healthy, supporting them when they are sick, but also when they are well. We are excited to collaborate with the providers of CHESS who embrace this same approach to care.”
Park Ridge Health remains an independent community health resource for Western North Carolina as it has for the past 106 years. This new partnership brings the expertise of CHESS and the resources of this expansive network of successful Accountable Care Organizations to our local community.
“CHESS seeks out health care organizations that have solid histories of providing quality care. Park Ridge Health has one of the highest patient satisfaction scores in the state, making this partnership the right move for everyone involved,” said James Hoekstra, M.D., CHESS Chief Business Development Officer. “We look forward to working with the providers and staff who make up Park Ridge Health’s network in Western North Carolina.”
CHESS has assisted a number of health systems in central and western North Carolina in making the transformation to value by implementing innovative care models and establishing value-based contracts with insurance carriers. CHESS transformation clients include Appalachian Regional Healthcare System, Catawba Valley Medical Group, Cornerstone Health Care and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
About Park Ridge Health: Founded in 1910, Park Ridge Health is a beloved piece of our growing community’s health care network, providing leading-edge, and compassionate care in a Christian environment. Park Ridge Health is a member of Adventist Health System, a family of 46 exceptional, faith-based hospitals across the country that operate independently to deliver care and services that best meet the needs of their communities. Park Ridge Health provides personalized care at more than 40 locations, offering a dedicated network of more than 140 physicians and providers, cardiac care & rehabilitation, emergency services, nationally awarded cancer care, state-of-the-art surgical care, full-service orthopedic care, a boutique labor & delivery experience, a full range of imaging services and the only accredited hyperbaric medicine facility in Western North Carolina. For more information about Park Ridge Health or to find a physician, please visit parkridgehealth.org or call 855.PRH.LIFE (855.774.5433).