USMD and UnitedHealthcare to Improve Patients' Care in Dallas/Fort Worth

IRVING, Texas, July 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- USMD Physician Services (USMD) and UnitedHealthcare have launched an accountable care program to improve people's health and their satisfaction with their health care experience.

The new accountable care program will dedicate more resources to care coordination and make it easier to share important health information. USMD member hospitals, clinics and physicians will share in the resulting savings generated through providing care under a value-based, patient-centric care model focused on keeping people healthy.

All Dallas/Fort Worth-area residents enrolled in UnitedHealthcare's employer-sponsored health plans are eligible to benefit from this collaboration. More than 19,000 UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored plan participants access USMD's services each year.

USMD, an affiliate of USMD Holdings, Inc., is based in Irving and serves the D/FW Metroplex with more than 250 physicians and associate practitioners, and provides health care services to patients in more than 20 different specialties at its two hospitals, four cancer treatment centers and nearly 50 physician clinics, many of which are multispecialty.

"We have a long history of partnering with UnitedHealthcare to apply our expertise in health care innovation and patient-centered programs to improve the health of their plan participants and advance toward overall population health management," said John M. House, chairman, president and CEO, USMD. "Working together, we expect to achieve even better health outcomes and improve patient satisfaction, while continuing to provide our patients with world-class, cost-effective care."

Many people who have gone to the doctor or hospital – particularly those with complex or chronic illnesses – have found they often have to connect information from each of their doctor visits themselves, and have sometimes received duplicative tests or care that isn't coordinated.

UnitedHealthcare will supplement USMD's own data to help support overall population health, giving the entire care team clear, actionable data about individual patients' health needs, potential gaps in care and proactive identification of high-risk patients. Patient navigators may also be used to support community-based care coordination, such as helping with planning after a patient is discharged from the hospital and scheduling follow-up appointments.

"UnitedHealthcare and USMD are working together to help people receive more personalized and better connected care, which will significantly enhance people's ability to live healthier lives," said Tom Quirk, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Texas.  

UnitedHealthcare serves more than 4.4 million Texans with a network of 512 hospitals and more than 69,000 physicians and other care providers statewide.

More than 14 million people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare plans across the country have access to accountable care programs, delivered in part through more than 750 accountable care arrangements nationwide as the organization engages in deeper, more collaborative relationships with physicians and hospitals.

Care providers nationwide are showing strong interest in a shift to value-based care. UnitedHealthcare's total payments to physicians and hospitals that are tied to value-based arrangements have tripled in the last three years to more than $48 billion. By the end of 2018, UnitedHealthcare expects that figure to reach $65 billion.

For more information about UnitedHealthcare's full spectrum of value-based initiatives, visit www.UHC.com/valuebasedcare. 

About USMD Holdings, Inc.
USMD is a publicly held USMD, physician-led, integrated health system committed to exemplary patient care. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, USMD serves the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area with more than 250 physicians and associate practitioners, and provides healthcare services to patients in more than 20 different specialties at its two hospitals, four cancer treatment centers and nearly 50 physician clinics, many of which are multi-specialty. All 29 of USMD's primary care clinics have been accredited by the Patient-Centered Medical Home Program, a recognition program that is part of the National Committee for Quality Assurance. This recognition means that USMD's primary care clinics successfully display and utilize evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated patient care and long-term patient relationships. For more information about USMD, visit www.usmd.com.

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1 million physicians and care professionals, and

6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group UNH, a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.

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SOURCE USMD Physician Services