Trinitas Regional Medical Center and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Enter Into Collaborative

On Jun 6, 2016

Expanding upon a long history of partnership, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) and Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth are entering into a strategic collaborative to increase quality and access, and reduce costs.  The new collaborative will integrate Horizon’s patient-centric, value-based care models into Trinitas’ existing efforts to improve the health and well-being of Elizabeth residents and the surrounding communities.

The new collaboration will launch later this year with an initial focus on patients with congestive heart failure and bring Horizon’s successful “Episodes of Care for Heart Failure” protocols to Trinitas’ cardiac care program.  The Episodes of Care program will expand in 2017 to include Episodes of Care for Coronary Artery Disease and Episodes of Care for Diabetes.

In addition to working together on Episodes of Care, Trinitas and Horizon will also work to develop and implement a program to further increase quality of care and reduce costs for people insured through Medicaid.  They will also establish a care model that integrates primary care and behavioral health clinicians to work with patients who have both mental or substance abuse conditions along with medical care needs.  Trinitas runs one of the largest and most comprehensive behavioral health programs in New Jersey.

“Trinitas has served the health needs of Central and Northern Jersey for more than 100 years and we’re excited to team up with Horizon to expedite our transition to value based care.  This strategic collaborative represents an aggressive strategy to increase access to primary care, better integrate primary and behavioral health services, and deliver care more effectively and efficiently to the people we serve,” said Gary S. Horan, FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer of Trinitas Regional Medical Center.  “Trinitas and Horizon have a long history of working together to better the health and lives of the people of Elizabeth and Central Jersey.  Value-based care is clearly the direction in which medicine is heading and we’re excited to join Horizon at the forefront of bringing the benefits of this approach to our patients.”

Horan added, “Joining the Horizon Value-Based Care effort will give us access to data that multiplies our knowledge base and accelerates our ability to integrate the clinical practices that achieve the best possible outcomes for our patients.  Working with Horizon we’ll be able to leverage data and translate that depth of experience into treatment plans that improve outcomes, reduce the cost of care, and lead to happier, healthier patients.”

“Horizon is committed to working with urban hospitals that want to collaborate with us to do even more to improve care quality, enhance the patient experience and control health care costs.  This announcement is another expression of our commitment to honoring the obligation we feel to help meet the health needs of every community,” said Robert A. Marino, Chairman and CEO of Horizon BCBSNJ. “Through this strategic collaboration, we’ll help Trinitas Medical Center accelerate their transition to value-based care by providing incentives for them to coordinate and deliver the full array of treatments and services needed to keep people healthy and get them on the road to recovery more quickly when they become sick. Trinitas plays a central role in providing responsive, quality healthcare to Elizabeth and the communities of Central New Jersey and I appreciate their willingness to work with Horizon to achieve our shared goals.”

Horizon BCBSNJ’s physicians, nurses and coordination team leaders will work with their counterparts at Trinitas to help improve outcomes and manage the full spectrum of a patient’s cardiac care needs including diagnosis, intervention, and rehabilitation.  Horizon’s Value-Base Care programs, which include the Episodes of Care, Patient-Centered Medical Homes, and Accountable Care Organizations, have proven highly effective at improving outcomes, lowering costs, and enhancing the patient experience. More than 800,000 Horizon members are receiving care from one of the 6,500 doctors who participate in a Patient-Centered program.  Patients in one of these programs have a 6 percent higher rate of improved diabetes control, 7 percent higher rate of cholesterol management, 8 percent lower rate of hospital admissions and 5 percent lower rate of emergency room visits.  As a result, they experience a 9 percent reduction overall in the total cost of care.

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