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People with Medicare in the West Valley now will have additional access to patient-focused primary care as Iora Health and Humana teamed up to add two additional Iora Primary Care practices to Humana's Medicare Advantage Plan network in Arizona.
This is the fourth consecutive year Iora Health and Humana have teamed up to expand their value-based relationship. The new practices mean that Humana Medicare Advantage members in Arizona, Colorado and Washington state have access to Iora's 18 primary care practices - seven in Phoenix metro, two in Tucson, five in Denver and four in Seattle.
One Iora Primary Care practice is located at 13940 W. Meeker Blvd. in Sun City West and started seeing patients Oct. 2. Another Iora practice will start seeing patients Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018 in Sun City.
"When we asked older adults in the Sun City area - and beyond - what's most important to them when choosing and staying with their primary care physician, most highlighted time and respect," said Dr. Rick Kratche, MD, Arizona Iora Primary Care medical director. "Iora's doctors have half the number of patients of a typical doctor in order to be able to spend more time with them to better meet their needs. We are thrilled to be able to offer this care to more older adults in Arizona as a result of our long-lasting partnership with Humana."
Humana is adding these new Iora Primary Care practice locations to its network in an effort to improve access to care and quality of care to help members achieve their best health. The new practices, operated by Iora Health, accept certain Medicare Advantage plans administered by Humana, as well as Original Medicare.
"People with Medicare often have different needs, especially as they age, so being able to team up with Iora to offer primary care in the communities where they live is key to helping our members start with healthy," said Mark Iorio, Humana's Central West Region president for senior products. "Humana's strong Medicare capabilities and Iora's passionate focus on patient care go hand-in-hand allowing us to offer a patient-focused care experience that helps our members at every stage in their health care journey."
Iora Primary Care practices focus on a patient-first experience, which is tailored to the needs of each patient. Iora offers smaller panel sizes than the industry average so doctors can spend more time listening to patients' needs, solidifying relationships and ensuring that patients feel heard and respected; integrated care team that includes doctors, health coaches and behavioral health specialists, who all help guide patients through the complex health system and ensure their care addresses the whole person; convenience, including 24/7 access to doctors by phone for urgent needs, same/next day appointments, onsite labs and locations with free parking; access to Chirp, Iora's proprietary collaborative care platform that is designed to allow patients to schedule appointments, access their records and communicate with their care team; and close collaboration with Humana's deep array of in-net-work specialists so patients have a coordinated care plan that addresses their needs.
Humana's value-based relationships with providers, like Iora, are aimed at transforming health care by offering proactive, personalized care for Medicare beneficiaries. Humana and Iora offi-cials strive to meet monthly to review member cases and issues. This helps ensure that members aren't simply treated for what ails them, but are also provided with a more comprehensive team working on a plan to keep them on the path to their best health and ensuring they receive a health care experience designed with their needs foremost in mind.
As of June 30, Humana has 1.8 million individual Medicare Advantage members and 142,000 commercial members who are cared for by 50,700 primary care providers in more than 900 value-based relationships across 43 states and Puerto Rico. As of the same date, about 65 percent of Humana individual Medicare Advantage members are seeing providers who are in value-based payment relationships with Humana. Humana's goal is to have 67 percent of individual Medicare Advantage members using providers in value-based payment models by the end of 2017.
Visit www.humana.com/valuebasedcare.
Editor's Note: Ms. Kane is MassMedia media relations director.
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