Providence Health & Services and Premera Blue Cross have created a new alliance founded on a joint commitment to collaborate on new programs that will transform care for the people and the communities we serve. In the coming year, we will undertake several joint initiatives with the shared goal of improving health and access to care for the people we serve.
In May, we are launching a patient-centered medical home program in select Providence clinics across the state of Washington. This is a model of care that comprehensively addresses the needs of patients through a common set of guiding principles, including team-based personalized care, integrated care coordination both in and out of the office, enhanced patient access and patient education, patient involvement and shared decision making, and a more continuous personal relationship between patients and caregivers.
This new program is being implemented at multiple sites simultaneously between the state’s largest health-care delivery system and its largest health-care insurer to achieve a common goal. Jointly, we will be able to significantly expand access to state of the art, patient-centered care from Providence care teams to thousands of Premera members in Olympia, Walla Walla, Spokane and Everett.
We believe this multi-market approach has the potential to deliver rich and more robust results. Drawing on the statewide scale of Providence and Premera, we are designing the programs to apply lessons learned in diverse settings more quickly and efficiently. We share identical goals of improving the care experience, increasing care coordination and making care more affordable, all while ensuring the highest quality of care for those we serve. Our shared objectives will lead to significant improvements in the primary care experience, including reducing the impact of chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes, while expanding access to care for our communities.
In addition, we are committed to improving care at every stage of life from early childhood to end-of-life care. We envision more compassionate, interdisciplinary attention to patients and their families that extends beyond traditional care when they need it most. Each organization is entrusted with a vital role in Washington’s health-care system. While we have worked together serving people for years, we believe that lasting solutions require closer and deeper partnerships among doctors, hospitals and insurers.
We are committed to sharing information and resources as never before and investing together to deliver exceptional outcomes. Our organizations share similar values and commitments to our families in Washington. Each organization offers unique talents, resources and a history of innovation. By working together we hope to create a more efficient, patient friendly health system that can serve Washington for years to come.
John Fletcher is a senior vice president for Providence Health & Services and Brian Ancell is an executive vice president for Premera Blue Cross.
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