Cigna to Enhance Florida Health Care with Primary Partners

Cigna Corp. (CI) has announced a collaborative care initiative with Primary Partners LLC. The tie-up is part of the Cigna Collaborative Care program.

Cigna's collaborative care initiative with Primary Partners came into effect on Oct 1. It aims at benefiting nearly 8,000 individuals under a Cigna health plan in Florida, and being treated by Primary Partners’ primary care physicians.

Cigna targets quality care and service for its customers at lower costs. It also aims to improve overall value though its collaborative care program.

The Cigna’s Collaborative Care program is akin to an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). An ACO is a group effort by health care providers voluntarily forming alliances to provide coordinated and affordable high-quality care to patients.

Through this Collaborative Care program of Cigna doctors affiliated with Primary Partners will monitor and coordinate all the aspects of patient care. The patients will get the benefits of the program even as they retain their current physician. The program does not specify any change regarding referrals to specialists. Patients suffering from long-term diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity are the ones who will benefit the most from the initiative.

The enrollees under the program will also have an additional advantage of receiving the services of registered nurses of Primary Partners. They will coordinate patient clinical care, educate patients about various health conditions, and counsel them on proper health care needs.

Cigna, too, will designate care coordinators to work closely with patients and monitor their services through its collaborative care initiative. They will follow up with the patient, send reminders about screenings or recommend direct medical help. At the same time, they will educate patients by encouraging them to participate in various health and wellness programs and workshops.

The ACO wave is sweeping across the health insurance industry as these provide insurers with a way to reduce medical cost. Under health reform, insurers have lost flexibility in the ways that they can cope with rising medical expenses. They can no longer rely on many of their traditional medical underwriting strategies, such as exclusion of pre-existing conditions.

The most effective approach for insurers now is to rely exclusively on current cost control mechanisms to manage members’ medical expenses. An ACO helps insurers like Cigna to accomplish these objectives.

Some of the other ace health insurers in the country, including Humana Inc. (HUM), United Healthcare Group Inc. (UNH) and Aetna Inc. (AET), are also forming ACOs to control costs.

Cigna carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).