Aetna Agreement with The Chester County Hospital Features Incentives for Quality Initiatives

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aetna (NYSE: AET) announced that its new agreement with The Chester County Hospital will feature incentives for quality initiatives in several key health care measures. The two sides reached agreement earlier this year on a three-year contract extension that took effect in May.

“We’re very pleased that The Chester County Hospital shares our passion about this issue, and has been willing to address it in the terms of this contract. We’ve enjoyed a strong, long-term relationship with the hospital and its affiliated doctors, and we believe it has been strengthened through this effort.”

Under the agreement, The Chester County Hospital and its satellite locations will continue to provide covered benefits, at in-network rates, to Aetna members in the Philadelphia area.

The new contract also aligns Aetna and The Chester County Hospital in an effort to achieve specific high-performance goals on several core measures, including acute myocardial infarction; heart failure; pneumonia; surgical case improvement; and urinary tract infections associated with catheter use.

“We are pleased to build on our long-standing relationship with Aetna as we advance our effort toward true value-based purchasing in the Philadelphia market,” said H.L. Perry Pepper, chief executive officer of The Chester County Hospital and Health System. “We are proud of our quality achievements, and we appreciate Aetna's participation in ensuring that Chester County residents receive the absolute best health care.”

“Aetna and The Chester County Hospital are mutually committed to improving the quality, cost and value of health care our members receive,” said Robert Kleman, vice president of network operations for Aetna’s Southeastern Pennsylvania market. “We’re very pleased that The Chester County Hospital shares our passion about this issue, and has been willing to address it in the terms of this contract. We’ve enjoyed a strong, long-term relationship with the hospital and its affiliated doctors, and we believe it has been strengthened through this effort.”

Aetna provides health benefits to more than 1 million people in Pennsylvania. In Southeast Pennsylvania, members have access to a network that includes 67 contracted hospitals and more than 18,000 primary care physicians and specialists.

About The Chester County Hospital

The Chester County Hospital has grown from a 10-bed dispensary established in 1892 to a full network of healthcare services, including a 220-bed, acute care hospital; home care; and many ancillary services. In addition to the main hospital campus in West Chester, services can be found at satellite locations in Exton, Lionville, West Goshen, Kennett Square, New Garden, and West Grove. To offer this wide range of programs, The Chester County Hospital has partnered with other health care providers who share a common mission and vision -- to improve the health status of the community. These affiliations include Cleveland Clinic in cardiac surgery; Penn Medicine in oncology, radiation oncology, and radiology; and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in neonatal and pediatric care. Learn more at www.cchosp.com.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 35.8 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com. To learn more about Aetna's innovative online tools, visit www.aetnatools.com.