Mercy Medical Center of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the University of Iowa Health Care system of Iowa City, Iowa, plan to form an accountable care organization. Certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ACOs are a new type of network developed to provide coordinated care along a care continuum in a manner that is seamless to patients and improves care quality, outcomes and value. ACO provider participants share in the Medicare savings they generate.
As Catholic Health World went to press, Mercy and the university health system were waiting to hear the CMS decision on whether to certify the new ACO. Timothy Charles, Mercy president and chief executive, said that the ACO will include Mercy's and the university health system's employed physicians, and there will be an opportunity for independent physicians to join the organization. The ACO would provide care to patients in East Central Iowa. Cedar Rapids and Iowa City are 30 miles apart. Mercy's health care network includes a 445-bed medical center, a network of family practices, two urgent care sites and four specialty clinics, including endocrinology, internal medicine, occupational medicine and pulmonology providers. The University of Iowa system includes a 729-bed hospital and a tertiary and quaternary specialty care network.
Charles said Mercy and the university system will share information and resources through the ACO. Also, with the university system already a leader in dialysis and kidney transplant services, the partnership will enable Mercy to bolster its dialysis services and develop new kidney care innovations, Charles said. He also noted that with the university system already on the Epic electronic health record system, and with Mercy transitioning to that system, the two partners will collaborate on that information technology upgrade.
Mercy and University of Iowa Health Care have preexisting relationships: the university health system has educated and trained Mercy leaders and clinicians, and there is a referral relationship between the systems.
The decision to collaborate began when Mercy and the University of Iowa were talking about how better to care for low-income Iowans who struggle to access care. Charles said that the collaboration will help Mercy further its mission to provide care to all who need it, particularly underserved populations.