(Wilmington, Del. – Sept. 24, 2020)

With State of Delaware approval announced on Sept. 22, ChristianaCare plans to launch Delaware Medicaid Quality Partners Accountable Care Organization (ACO), one of the first Medicaid ACOs in the state. The ACO aims to provide more than 18,000 Medicaid patients with innovative, high quality, data driven health care at lower cost.

ACOs are networks of doctors, hospitals and others that share financial and medical responsibility for providing coordinated, effective care to patients while limiting unnecessary spending. At the heart of each patient’s care is a primary care provider and care team.

“The formation of Delaware Medicaid Quality Partners ACO is a huge step forward in meeting the health care needs of the Medicaid population in Delaware,” said Christine Donohue-Henry, M.D., MBA, president and CEO of Delaware Medicaid Quality Partners ACO and chief population health officer at ChristianaCare. “ChristianaCare has ample experience providing high quality, value-based care in an accountable care organization framework.”

Delaware Medicaid Quality Partners ACO will be supported by ChristianaCare’s award-winning care coordination program CareVio, which harnesses real-time data and predictive analytics to identify opportunities to help patients better manage their health and avoid complications that might lead to unnecessary hospitalizations or avoidable visits to the emergency department.

The new ACO will also build on ChristianaCare’s record of success in delivering value-based care to more than 40,000 Medicare beneficiaries as a founding partner of eBrightHealth ACO, which has provided high-quality care while achieving four consecutive years of savings that total more than $18 million.

“Key to the success of Delaware Medicaid Quality Partners ACO will be building on our strong clinical partnerships with providers in primary care, pediatrics and behavioral and women’s health, as well as continuing to work closely with our community-based partners to provide health care access and support in the communities where patients live,” said Rose Kakoza, M.D., MPH, medical director for Delaware Medicaid Quality Partners ACO. “Among areas we will especially focus on are health equity, care standardization and addressing social determinants of health.”

The Delaware Medicaid Quality Partners ACO will seek agreements with the state’s two Medicaid managed care organizations, AmeriHealth Caritas Delaware and Highmark Health Options. The contracts are expected to begin July 1, 2021 and run through Dec. 31, 2024.

Under the ACO framework, when an ACO succeeds both in delivering high-quality care and spending health care dollars more wisely, the ACO will share in the savings it achieves.

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About ChristianaCare

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ChristianaCare is one of the country’s most dynamic health care organizations, centered on improving health outcomes, making high-quality care more accessible and lowering health care costs. ChristianaCare includes an extensive network of primary care and outpatient services, home health care, urgent care centers, three hospitals (1,430 beds), a freestanding emergency department, a Level I trauma center and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, a comprehensive stroke center and regional centers of excellence in heart and vascular care, cancer care and women’s health. It also includes the pioneering Gene Editing Institute.

ChristianaCare is nationally recognized as a great place to work, rated by Forbes as the 2nd best health system for diversity and inclusion, and the 29th best health system to work for in the United States, and by IDG Computerworld as one of the nation’s Best Places to Work in IT. ChristianaCare is rated by Healthgrades as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals and continually ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek and other national quality ratings. ChristianaCare is a nonprofit teaching health system with more than 260 residents and fellows. With its groundbreaking Center for Virtual Health and a focus on population health and value-based care, ChristianaCare is shaping the future of health care.

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