Home health providers in New Hampshire could soon have access to predictive, qualitative health care data as the result of a new joint venture that may be unprecedented in scope, according to leaders involved.
Benevera Health is looking to bring together clinical, operational and financial data from across partner institutions to provide actionable analytics for doctors to improve the efficiency and quality of patient care.
New Hampshire-based nonprofit academic health system Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Frisbie Memorial Hospital and Elliot Health System entered into a joint venture with insurance firm Harvard Pilgrim Health Care to establish Benevera Health. Benevera will be jointly owned by the three entities and is scheduled to start its operations on Jan. 1, 2016. The three founding organizations also will jointly invest in new technologies needed to achieve the goal of improving population health, although specific anticipated dollar figures were not disclosed.
One of the goals of Benevera is to establish member health monitoring systems to enable timely health care intervention to reduce the need for urgent care, therefore decreasing costs and achieving better health outcomes.
Locally-based care advocates also are expected to be at the center of this approach, identifying early opportunities to engage patients – especially those with complex, emerging or chronic conditions — and give them one-on-one support.
The creation of Benevera is expected to have an impact on local home health agencies.
Benevera will be able to arm home health agencies with information about high-risk patients early on, John Marzinzik, Frisbie Memorial Hospital president and CEO, told Home Health Care News.
“It’s a win-win across the spectrum,” Marzinzik said.
Benevera is keeping the door open to partner with home health providers in the future, Benevera Health President Corbin Petro told HHCN.
Petro added that she is “not aware of anything as comprehensive” as Benevera Health existing anywhere else in the United States.
The joint venture is set to support all of Harvard Pilgrim’s more than 80,000 fully insured members in New Hampshire, regardless of which plan they have.
“We do expect to bring in additional provider partners,” Petro said, adding that she expects one will be announced within the next couple of weeks.
According to Petro, as the line begins to blur between payers and providers, more ventures like this may be created.
Written by Mary Kate Nelson
Companies featured in this article:
Benevera Health, Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Elliot Health System, Frisbie Memorial Hospital, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
