Coventry Health Care of Illinois and SwedishAmerican Health System Collaborate to Form High-Performance Network

ROCKFORD, Ill.--()--Coventry Health Care of Illinois, Inc. and SwedishAmerican Health System are pleased to announced a new high-performance network in Rockford, IL.

The new product, Carelink from Coventry: A SwedishAmerican Partnership, is effective September 1, 2013. The goal of this collaboration is to improve quality of care and lower overall health care costs. This partnership shows a commitment to delivering more value to the patient, no matter what his or her health care needs may be.

“SwedishAmerican is collaborating with its physicians, Coventry and employer groups to implement a model of care that aids people when they are sick, and also focuses on keeping them healthy and out of the hospital unless they are acutely sick or injured,” said Dr. Bill Gorski, President and CEO of SwedishAmerican. “We are creating a physician-directed team approach to foster more accountability across the continuum of care, from the patient to the physician and all health care staff in between. Our primary goal is to help the health care team manage and improve the health and well-being of the patient.”

Jered Wilson, Vice President of Network Development for Coventry, said, “We are excited to expand our partnership with SwedishAmerican to offer the Rockford community access to a new health care delivery model. We believe our members will receive an enhanced level of coordinated care that will result in better health outcomes. Together with SwedishAmerican, we want to improve the health of our communities.”

High-performance network model drives focus on more coordinated care

A high-performance network collaboration is a group of health care providers who assume responsibility for the quality and cost of care for a group of patients.

Richard Walsh, Executive Vice President and COO of SwedishAmerican, said, “One of our goals is to provide physicians with better predictors of their patients’ health risks earlier in life. By implementing behavior interventions early, we can improve health and outcomes long term. We will also provide tools to help physicians better manage patients with multiple chronic conditions who need immediate interventions. Such resources and tools can be used to more efficiently manage a growing patient population, maintain patient health and focus on those patients who need their doctor’s guidance the most.”

Coventry is working with health care organizations throughout the state to develop products and services that support value-driven, patient-centered care. For more information on this specific high-performance network, please visit www.chcillinois.com > Health Care Solutions > Our Products > Carelink from Coventry.

About SwedishAmerican Health System

SwedishAmerican is a not-for-profit, locally governed health care system, headquartered in Rockford, IL. The health system is comprised of two hospitals, 30 clinics, a home health care agency and a foundation. Through an exclusive affiliation with UW Health, SwedishAmerican will soon expand world-class cancer services across northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin when it opens a new cancer center in October 2013.

About Coventry Health Care of Illinois, Inc.

Providing health care benefits for almost 30 years, Coventry Health Care of Illinois, Inc. (formerly PersonalCare Insurance of Illinois, Inc.) offers a range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products, including group health, individual health, self-funded administration, Medicare and pharmacy plans. Coventry Health Care of Illinois is an Aetna company. For more information, see www.coventryhealthcare.com.

About Aetna

Aetna (NYSE: AET) is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 44 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services, workers' compensation administrative services and health information technology services. Aetna’s customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.

Contacts

Coventry Health Care, Inc.
Kristine Grow, 301-581-5729
kmgrow@cvty.com

Contacts

Coventry Health Care, Inc.
Kristine Grow, 301-581-5729
kmgrow@cvty.com