Managed Care and Joint Contracting
The Neighborhood Health Care
Network negotiates and maintains
contracts for its members in the
rapidly evolving health care market,
working to ensure that community clinics
benefit as fully as possible from emerging
purchasing strategies and other opportunities,
such as the growing use of pay-for performance
programs, in which clinics are
financially rewarded for improvements in
quality of care.
Negotiating on a group basis strengthens
the bargaining power of even the smallest clinics in the Network and improves the
reimbursement rate for insured patients. In addition to managing contracts with
public entities, including the City of Minneapolis Department of Health, the Network negotiates and manages
a contract with a major health plan and
with other vendors on behalf of member clinics.
In 2009, managed care and contracting
activities included:
- Maintaining favorable rates for laboratory
services for member clinics.
- Offering interested clinics the opportunity
for group purchase of physician malpractice
insurance.
- Managing a patient-subsidy contract
with the City of Minneapolis Department of
Health and Family Support for uncompensated
care.
- Assessment of other business opportunities
for which a single contract would be more
efficient than individual clinic contracts.
The need for affordable health care and
the number of uninsured adults and children
are both increasing. At the same time,
subsidies for uncompensated care are static
or even decreasing. Shared management
and joint contracting helps Neighborhood
Health Care Network member clinics deliver
high-quality health care with maximum
efficiency.
For more information on this business area, please contact:
Walter Cooney, Executive Director at walter.cooney@nhcn.org
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