USMD and UnitedHealthcare update patient care in Dallas

USMD Physician Services (USMD) has partnered with UnitedHealthcare to release an accountable care program to improve people’s health and their satisfaction with their healthcare experience.

The program dedicates more resources to care coordination and streamlines the sharing of important health information.

As part of the program, USMD member hospitals, clinics and physicians will share in the resulting savings generated through providing care under a value-based, patient-centric care model focused on keeping people healthy.

UnitedHealthcare will also supplement USMD's own data to help support overall population health, giving the care team data about individual patients' health needs, potential gaps in care and proactive identification of high-risk patients.

Patient navigators may also be used to support community-based care coordination, such as helping with planning after a patient is discharged from the hospital and scheduling follow-up appointments.

Residents enrolled in UnitedHealthcare's employer-sponsored health plans within the Dallas/Fort Worth area are eligible to benefit from this collaboration. More than 19,000 UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored plan participants access USMD's services each year.

John House, chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of USMD, said: "We have a long history of partnering with UnitedHealthcare to apply our expertise in health care innovation and patient-centered programs to improve the health of their plan participants and advance toward overall population health management.

"Working together, we expect to achieve even better health outcomes and improve patient satisfaction, while continuing to provide our patients with world-class, cost-effective care."

Tom Quirk, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of Texas, added: "UnitedHealthcare and USMD are working together to help people receive more personalized and better connected care, which will significantly enhance people's ability to live healthier lives."