Summit Medical Group, a Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based medical group, recently announced its forming an accountable care organization (ACO) with Cigna, a New York City-based payer. The two organizations say the new ACO will impact 10,000 patients that receive care at 300 Summit Medical Group providers.
“Summit Medical Group has long embraced the coordinated care model as the best way to deliver quality care and patient satisfaction,” Summit Medical Group CEO Jeffrey Le Benger said in a statement. “Our emphasis on preventive care and collaboration makes Cigna a natural partner as we work together to improve the patient experience and enhance the health care delivery system.”
Summit says patients who will benefit from this ACO will receive improved care, lowered costs, increased opportunities for engagement, better care coordination, lower readmission rates, and better management of chronic illnesses. In the press release announcing the move, Summit says nurses who serve as clinical care coordinators will use patient-specific data from the EHR to identify patients discharged from the hospital who might be at risk for readmission.
