Message from the Medical Director

Paul Buehrens, MD,
EHP Medical Director

EHP continues growing and earns local and national recognition

With 607 providers caring for 22,000 patients under four contracts, new contracts coming online January 1 for the Premera ACO, and the State of Washington Health Care Authority ACO contract for public employees – EHP continues to grow! We have begun implementing Wellcentive in our first sites, including EvergreenHealth Primary Care, Sammamish, and Totem Lake Family Medicine in October. During this time we have been rising to the challenge of using ICD 10.

Message from the Executive Director--Distribution Model Changes

Monique Ruyle, EHP 
Executive Director

Thank you, one and all, for continuing your work and providing exceptional care while I was away on maternity leave. Sabrina Lynn turned seven months old on December 22. I am looking forward to continuing our progress toward meeting our goals in 2016. 

In October, 2015 the Board of Managers approved changes to the EvergreenHealth Partners distribution model. As you may recall, our 2014 payout, paid in July 2015, was a total of $390,000.The changes, proposed by the EHP Payer Committee, were initiated to help align distribution with the payers attribution models, keeping in mind the majority of contract quality metrics link to Primary Care.

Care Coordinator Update

Debi Jefferson, Care Coordinator

This August, I celebrated my one year anniversary with EvergreenHealth Partners. Together, we have made great progress. I am happy to say that every single day, I receive at least one positive comment related to how our EHP partnerships and process has benefited a life we have touched—be that a colleague, practice manager, physician, clinic medical assistant, patient or family member—we are benefitting lives together.

Quality Initiative Update

Uniform Medical Plan Plus

Sara Rutherford

As a member of the Puget Sound High Value Network, we are excited to participate in the new Accountable Health Program contract with the Health Care Authority, beginning in January 2016 and providing coverage for publicly-employed individuals and families in the five county Puget Sound region. This new benefit is called “Uniform Medical Plan Plus”, and recently completed open enrollment on November 30. To date, 3,093 lives are covered under UMP Plus.

Achieve Your Healthiest Best through Better Nutrition

Nutrition Coaching and Counseling 

Now Available at EvergreenHealth

Are you ready to take the next steps to improving your health with education about your diet and food choices? 

EvergreenHealth is here to support you with on-site, outpatient nutrition consultations. Through one-on-one consulting and coaching sessions, we can help you learn how to eat well and, most importantly, feel well.

Spotlight: Endocrinology & Nephrology

In this newsletter, we’re spot lighting our Endocrinology, Nephrology and Rheumatology partners.  Below is a listing of our EHP member practices:

Aria Endocrinology, LLC

Farideh Eskandari, M.D., M.H.S.

Fall Prevention class: keep patients safe and independent

We invite you to encourage your patients to be proactive by attending this valuable fall prevention class. Patients will learn how to:

• Stay active and independent
• Minimize risk from factors such as weakness, poor vision, and medications
• Organize your environment to reduce risk
• Safely manage home and self-care activities
• Stay strong and physically active

Click for printable flyer

Diabetes Summit set for Oct. 17

On Saturday, October 17, EvergreenHealth will host the American Diabetes Association and a Professional Education Summit: The Emerging Trends in Diabetes Care. This symposium is designed for primary care physicians, pharmacists, dietitians, nurses, certified diabetes educators, and other healthcare professionals with an interest in diabetes. Continuing education credits are available – see attached brochure for further details.

Improving Value in Health Care: The Choosing Wisely Summit

Join health care leaders, stakeholders and national Choosing Wisely representatives on Friday, Oct. 30 for Improving Value in Health Care: The Choosing Wisely Summit, a day-long, in-depth look at how the Choosing Wisely initiative in Washington state is moving from education to implementation.

Message from the Medical Director

Paul Buehrens, MD,
EHP Medical Director

From inception to recruitment in 2013, EvergreenHealth Partners had no contracts and no patients.  Starting in 2014, we signed gain-sharing contracts with EvergreenHealth for our employees and dependents, along with Cigna, and Regence (for the Accountable Health Network product) and as of January 2015, with Aetna, our largest commercial payer to date.  We have now signed with Premera for its ACO product set to launch on January 1, 2016, and as of yesterday, signed a contract through the Puget Sound High Value Network with the Health Care Authority for the public employee business.  We anticipate this contract will be used as a template for King County, L&I, Medicaid, and other lines of business from the State and County. We are serving 20,000 patients through EHP, working to generate benefits to our participants through

Path to Risk Leadership Retreat

Monique Ruyle, 
EHP Executive Director

The Evergreehealth Partner’s Path to Risk Leadership Retreat brought payer executives together with EHP physician leaders, to educate our leaders on their perspectives, and form a strategic plan in determining what actions EHP needs to take to effectively and sustainably embark on the “Path to Risk”. Risk in this context, refers to EHP contracting with payers to be accountable for the cost, quality, and access for a designated population.

Spotlight: Dermatology

In this newsletter, we’re spot lighting our Dermatology partners.  Below is a listing of our EHP member practices in Dermatology:

Pro Sports Club

Daniel Levy MD

Specialty: Dermatology 

Practice: Pro Sports Club

Johnna Millen ARNP

Specialty: Dermatology 

Practice: Pro Sports Club

Contracts Update

First Choice / EvergreenHealth Contract:  This contract covers EvergreenHealth’s employees and dependents (approx. 6,000 lives) and has been in effect since January 1, 2014.  Through benefit design, EvergreenHealth employees have been incentivized to us EHP physicians.  We are in final reconciliation of 2014 benefits costs to determine if there is a gainhare payout for EHP members.  The EHP gainsharing payout will be qualified by the level of participation in the EHP quality program.

High Value Network Signs Contract with Health Care Authority

The Puget Sound High Value Network has finalized the negotiations of a four year contract with the Washington State Health Care Authority for state employees in the Puget Sound Region, for benefit year starting 2016. The intent of the contract is to create a narrow network

Welcome EvergreenHealth Monroe

Join us in officially welcoming EvergreenHealth Monroe as a partner, working together to enrich the health and well-being of every life we touch, serving East Snohomish County. Formerly known as Valley General Hospital, EvergreenHealth Monroe became an official partner on March 1, offering care that includes Emergency Services, Outpatient Oncology, and Surgical Services. 

First Choice Contract Payout

The end of June marks the date for determining the total final shared savings that EvergreenHealth Partners are eligible for. Payout of the shared savings will follow the Fund 

Distribution Policy accordingly: 

Step 1: EHP will reimburse the physician leadership positions on the Board of Managers and

Quality Coordinator Update

Sara Rutherford, Quality Coordinator

Year one of our Cigna Collaborative Accountable Care (CAC) contract is ending on June 30, 2015 and we are vigorously working to close as many patient care gaps as possible across all of our practices.  Our latest report from Cigna, based on claims data through December 31, 2014, shows performance improvements on the following initiatives:

• Adolescent well care visits (ages 12-21)
• Avoidance of antibiotic treatment in adults with acute bronchitis
• Avoidance of antibiotic treatment in children with URIs
• Diabetic hemoglobin A1c testing
• Diabetic retinal evaluation

Care Coordinator Update

Debi Jefferson, Care Coordinator

My quality goal is to establish a more proactive and sustainable process by building process, measuring outcomes, and learning as we proceed to address each practice’s unique level of transition to Population Health.

The words “partnering” and “team effort” describe what I have witnessed over the past 10 months. This collaborative effort has helped us achieve the success we are seeing in closing gaps and improving cost savings in our first contract year with First Choice and as of June 30^th, our Cigna contract. Less than one year into the process, we have adjusted each quarter to learn how to meet the goals of our payer contracts.

Regence’s Accountable Health Networks Roadshow

EvergreenHealth Partners, along with Virginia Mason, recently held an event in EvergreenHealth’s Café 128 for over 50 brokers, looking to learn about Regence’s Accountable Health Networks called ActiveCare. 

This health insurance plan focuses on providing support for members to achieve their best health by reinforcing collaboration between providers to offer the right treatment, at the right time, and at the right facility.

Message from the Medical Director: 2014 EHP Recap

Paul Buehrens, MD,
EHP Medical Director

In 2014, EHP had its first year of operations with contracts in place to care for real people!  As a startup, we finished 2013 without any patients but we did have about 535 participating providers!  Last year we began with working with one contract for the EvergreenHealth employees and dependents, and later added a Cigna contract.  

What We Accomplished in 2014

Monique Ruyle, 
EHP Executive Director

2014 was a groundbreaking first full year for EvergreenHealth Partners. I’m going to quickly recap our many accomplishments, but first I want to say thank you. None of these accomplishments would have been possible without your interest in the EHP program, the work of you and your office staff to incorporate the EHP reporting program into your daily work flow, and your commitment to providing the best health care and value to our community.

Regence Accountable Health Network

EvergreenHealth Partners is now part of a new Regence BlueShield provider network and insurance product called Accountable Health Network (AHN). EHP is one of four approved AHNs at this time; the others are The Everett Clinic, UW Medicine and MultiCare Health System. 

Spotlight: EHP Otolaryngology and Podiatry

In this newsletter, we’re spotlighting two specialties – otolaryngology and podiatry.  Below is a listing of our EHP member practices in these specialties, along with their EHP quality measures:

2015 Evergreen Gala – Lights, Glamour, Auction

Please show your support and join us for the 2015 Evergreen Gala on April 25, in our signature clear-structured tent set in historic King County’s Marymoor Park. 

This year’s charitable focus is EvergreenHealth’s Home Care and its expansion into eHomeHealth, interactive technology to provide an innovative connection for home health patients with their family and care team. 

Funds Distribution Model

The EHP Board of Managers has approved the following model for distributing any bonus funds earned by EHP to participating providers:

Welcome Quality Coordinator Sara Rutherford

Sara Rutherford, Quality Coordinator

I’m Sara Rutherford and I am very excited to join EvergreenHealth Partners as Quality Coordinator and contribute to the exceptional care provided in our community.  Within EHP, I am monitoring the individual and collective performance of our providers across all of our quality initiatives, and providing support to practice managers and providers as needed.  I am your point of contact for any questions related to quality metrics, targets and strategies. I’d like to share a little about my background in healthcare, and the experience I bring to this new position with EHP.

Care Coordination Update

Debi Jefferson, Care Coordinator

Since September, I have been energetically assisting practice managers and providers to meet payer quality initiatives and financial incentive goals by:

• Establishing a unique process, by practice, to address high risk and care gap patients identified by our contracted payers
• Following and informing you of your hospital admits and discharges

EvergreenHealth Recognized for Clinical Excellence

We’re pleased to tell you about three recent recognitions EvergreenHealth has received:

Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence

EvergreenHealth has achieved several of the highest recognitions available for clinical excellence from Healthgrades*, including the 2015 Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence award. This places EvergreenHealth among the top 5% of hospitals nationally for its quality patient care and superior clinical performance. This is the sixth time we’ve earned this designation.