Highmark Health Collaborates with Contessa to Enhance Home Based Acute Care Model for Highmark Health Plan Members

Pittsburgh, PA AND Nashville, Tenn. — (November 13, 2019) — Highmark Health, a leading national health and wellness organization, today announced that it is working with Contessa to improve individuals’ health care experiences through a joint venture designed to enable consumers to receive hospital-quality care in the comfort and convenience of their homes. The joint venture, Home Recovery Care LLC, will provide all essential elements of inpatient care in the home through telemedicine, in-home providers, and robust care management oversight.  This is made possible utilizing Contessa’s proprietary technology specifically designed to coordinate home-based hospital care.

As part of this patient-centered, value-based solution, Home Recovery Care patients are monitored for 30 days to ensure they are recovering appropriately, adhering to physician-devised care plans, and attending all necessary follow-up appointments with primary care physicians and other specialists.

“Creating a value-based experience that enables patients and families to heal in the home is a priority for Highmark Health,” said Dr. Monique Reese, senior vice president, Home and Community Care for Highmark Health. “Through the Home Recovery Care Model, Allegheny Health Network will provide high-quality in-home services such as home care, home infusion, and durable medical equipment.  We are excited to expand our home-focused solutions by partnering with Contessa to provide high-quality acute-level care in the comfort of the patient’s home.”

“This new collaboration with Contessa enables us to deliver on Highmark Health’s mission to create a remarkable customer experience,” added Dr. Tony Farah, executive vice president/chief medical and clinical transformation officer of Highmark Health.  “We are laser-focused on achieving the quadruple aim — to transform health care through proactively improving clinical outcomes and driving better patient and clinician experiences, thereby lowering total cost of care.”

Home Recovery Care is currently available to select Highmark Inc. commercial health plan members in western Pennsylvania and will be available to all Medicare Advantage members beginning January 1, 2020.  Highmark Health intends to make this service available to all Highmark Health plan members in western and central Pennsylvania in 2020 and is exploring opportunities to expand this service to its other core markets of West Virginia and Delaware.

“Highmark Health is a true leader in the transformation of health care,” said Travis Messina, CEO of Contessa. “They are known for innovative initiatives that result in remarkable experiences for patients at a reduced cost. Now, as a trusted partner, we are excited to play a role in the transformational care that is being delivered in the Highmark Health communities.”

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About Highmark Health

Highmark Health, a Pittsburgh, PA-based company, is the lead company in an enterprise that employs more than 35,000 people who serve millions of Americans across the country and is the second largest integrated health care delivery and financing network in the nation based on revenue. Highmark Health is the parent company of Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, and HM Health Solutions. Highmark Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates provide health insurance to more than 4.4 million members in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware as well as dental insurance, and related health products through a national network of diversified businesses that include United Concordia Companies, and HM Insurance Group. Allegheny Health Network is the parent company of an integrated delivery network that includes eight hospitals, more than 2,300 affiliated physicians, ambulatory surgery centers, an employed physician organization, home and community-based health services, a research institute, a group purchasing organization, and health and wellness pavilions in western Pennsylvania. HM Health Solutions focuses on meeting the information technology platform and other business needs of the Highmark Health enterprise as well as unaffiliated health insurance plans by providing proven business processes, expert knowledge, and integrated cloud-based platforms.  To learn more, visit www.highmarkhealth.org.

About Contessa

Based in Nashville, Contessa is the leader and pioneer of Home Recovery Care, a risk-based model that combines all the essential elements of inpatient hospital care in the comfort of patients’ homes. Founded in 2015, Contessa utilizes Care Convergence – a proprietary technology platform – to power the seamless delivery of Home Recovery Care that is safe, affordable and improves patient outcomes. Contessa’s turnkey solution provides upfront savings to health plans, enables health systems to reinvent their care delivery model and helps physicians deliver a better experience for patients.

For more information, visit contessahealth.com or follow us at @contessahealth.

CONTACTS:    

Lynn Seay, Highmark Health

412-544-2771

 

Courtney Carter, Contessa

615-635-0307