Cambia Health Solutions and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina have announced a strategic affiliation between the two companies that will combine management, administrative, operational, and other corporate services.
The goal of the affiliation is to “improve quality, lower costs, and deliver an exceptional experience for consumers,” according to officials. “We have to do something different to make healthcare better, simpler, and more affordable for the people we serve,” Patrick Conway, M.D., president and CEO of Blue Cross NC. “By sharing resources, innovations, and best-in-class services we can fundamentally transform the way individuals and families experience the healthcare system.”
Conway, the former deputy administrator for innovation and quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), left his federal post in 2017 for Blue Cross NC. At CMS, Conway was one of the driving forces behind the national movement to value-based care, with healthcare payments tied to quality and innovation.
Cambia Health Solutions, based in Oregon, calls itself a “total health solutions company” that empowers more than 2.5 million people in the Pacific Northwest who are enrolled in its regional health plans.
The affiliation also builds on the success of their existing relationship, Echo Health Ventures, launched in 2016. Echo Health Ventures aims to invest in, help build, and grow healthcare companies of the future.
Cambia and Blue Cross NC will enter into a long-term management services agreement under the Cambia Health Solutions name. Cambia’s Board of Directors will be made up of 10 members from Blue Cross NC’s current Board of Trustees and nine members from Cambia’s current Board of Directors, according to officials.
Conway will serve as Cambia’s new CEO, while also remaining CEO of Blue Cross NC.
Blue Cross NC and Cambia’s health plans, which include Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueShield in Washington, Regence BlueShield of Idaho, and Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, will continue to be subject to all state regulations and requirements in their respective states, including rate review, to ensure consumer protection, officials noted.
