Anthem Blue Cross and HealthCare Partners Saves $4.7 Million in Six Months

The Accountable Care Organization (ACO) formed by Anthem Blue Cross (Anthem) and HealthCare Partners in California produced $4.7 million in savings for the first six months of 2013 compared to a comparison group, Anthem and HealthCare Partners announced today. 

These recent results in the Anthem/HealthCare Partners ACO are notable as the program included approximately 55,000 PPO enrollees who have the choice to see doctors outside of the ACO. In contrast, most other high-profile ACO programs that have shown savings in the past are available only to the HMO population, which by definition, already has  coordinated care within a limited network. In addition to the savings, participants in the ACO received better care, as measured by the HEDIS benchmarks below: 
 
Metric per 1,000 members Risk-Adjusted Change (Negative percentage is better) 

• Hospital Inpatient Days, -18% 
• Inpatient Admits, -4% 
• Outpatient Visits (including ER visits), -4% 
• Radiology Visits, -4% 
• Lab Visits, -4% 
• Professional Visits, -2% 

 
Quality Measures (Positive percent: positive is better) 

• Diabetes LDL, +7.5% 
• Cholesterol Mgmt. for Heart Disease Patients, +3.8%