HealthSpring Signs Five-Year Agreement with TriStar Health in Tennessee

Partnership Enhances Care Coordination and Expands Quality Programs for Patients

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HealthSpring today announced a five-year agreement with HCA’s TriStar Health that will extend HealthSpring’s unique and proven quality programs to current and future HealthSpring patients using TriStar physicians and facilities. TriStar’s more than 7,400 HealthSpring members will benefit from additional patient resources, enhanced care coordination and greater emphasis on preventive care.

“HealthSpring’s new relationship with TriStar represents such a commitment and creates a collaborative environment where we and our physician partners can strive to continually improve patient care for our members.”

“Our best-in-class health services are made possible through strong partnerships with hospitals and doctors who share our commitment to quality care centered on personal attention, preventive care and total body wellness,” HealthSpring of Tennessee President Greg Allen said. “HealthSpring’s new relationship with TriStar represents such a commitment and creates a collaborative environment where we and our physician partners can strive to continually improve patient care for our members.”

HealthSpring’s quality programs enhance patient access to care and, in places where they have been introduced, have yielded improved compliance with key metrics and evidence-based medicine. The programs are helping to close gaps in care such as missed health screenings or prescription refills. Additionally, they are reducing unnecessary use of emergency care, increasing the number of preventive health visits and improving follow-up care for people transitioning from the hospital to home. Also critical to the program are the detailed analytics HealthSpring tracks and shares with participating physicians to ensure patients receive the care they need when and where they need it.

“Coordinated, quality care has long been a focus for TriStar Health. That's why we're pleased to partner with HealthSpring to provide additional resources and innovative methods that enable us to further impact and improve patient care,” said Steve Corbeil, president of TriStar Health. “We look forward to implementing HealthSpring’s quality programs and providing their members with a personalized health care experience.”

The agreement with HealthSpring concentrates on TriStar’s Middle Tennessee facilities and includes more than 70 TriStar primary care physicians. These physicians and their HealthSpring patients will have access to extra clinical, technology and education resources, including HealthSpring case management, pharmacy and nurse staff.

HealthSpring and TriStar physicians have been working together since September 2008 and this new agreement represents a natural progression of HealthSpring’s physician engagement model, which works closely with physician partners to design quality care programs, improve the patient experience and align incentives that reward physicians for quality care.

About HealthSpring

HealthSpring, a Cigna company, is one of the country’s leading health plans focused on delivering care to the senior population, predominately through Medicare Advantage and other Medicare and Medicaid products. Along with its companies Bravo Health and Leon Medical Centers Health Plans, HealthSpring serves more than one million customers in locations across the country. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, HealthSpring operates health plans in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. HealthSpring also offers a national stand-alone prescription drug plan. For more information, visit www.healthspring.com.

About TriStar

TriStar Health is the region’s largest, most comprehensive healthcare provider with 18 hospitals and 10 ambulatory surgery centers in Tennessee, South Central Kentucky and Northern Georgia. As a system, our hospitals are supported by approximately 5,300 physicians and nearly 13,000 employees. TriStar Health facilities feature state-of-the-art technology and pioneer new medical procedures every day to accommodate the needs of the more than 110,000 patient admissions and nearly 515,000 Emergency Department visits annually. For more information about TriStar Health, or for a physician referral, call TriStar MedLine^® at 615-342-1919 or toll-free outside of Nashville at 1-800-242-5662 or visit TriStarHealth.com.