Evolent Health Supports Health Systems in Population and Health Plan Management

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolent Health today announces its launch to provide a fully integrated population and health plan management platform to leading health systems.   

Formed as an independent company, Evolent Health is backed by capital, asset and intellectual property contributions from Pittsburgh-based UPMC Health Plan, a subsidiary of UPMC, a global health enterprise and one of the nation's largest integrated delivery and financing systems, and The Advisory Board Company, a global health care research, consulting, and technology firm. 

Evolent Health delivers the infrastructure necessary for health systems to accept value-based payments from all payers. The key components of Evolent Health's offering include an integrated population health management technology platform, extensive operational care management support, integrated payer functions, and holistic change management support.

Evolent Health also announces that it has partnered with MedStar Health to become a Founding Customer.  Evolent will work with MedStar to provide integrated population and health plan management solutions in order to drive efficiency and growth.  MedStar will utilize the integrated Evolent platform to support its efforts to improve cost and quality outcomes for its own employee base and its existing managed Medicaid plan, as well as across multiple Medicare initiatives and future shared savings partnerships with commercial payers.  Ken Samet, President and Chief Executive Officer of MedStar Health, commented, "We are excited to partner with Evolent Health to give us access to world-class capabilities and support as we continue to build our population management infrastructure."

Evolent Health is established with a strong executive team with extensive health plan, provider, and integrated delivery system experience.  Frank Williams, former Chief Executive Officer of The Advisory Board Company, has joined Evolent Health as its Chief Executive Officer to drive the company through its initial growth phase.

Mr. Williams commented, "The leading health systems around the country are seeking to extend their population management capabilities to support their growth strategies and also to respond to the new reality of value-based reimbursement. Evolent Health makes available world-class people, processes, and technology to support these health systems in executing their strategies. We are excited to be working with a marquee health system like MedStar Health as our first customer."

UPMC Health Plan's contributions, which include its Identifi care management workflow software platform, a robust library of proven population management interventions embedded in the platform, and integrated health plan capabilities, will allow Evolent's health system customers to take advantage of UPMC's 15 years of experience as a value-based care organization.  Diane Holder, President of UPMC's Insurance Services Division and Chief Executive Officer of UPMC Health Plan, said, "UPMC Health Plan has built a scalable and integrated platform that aligns the reimbursement and clinical delivery systems to yield lower cost and higher quality care. We manage care for more than 54,000 UPMC employees and provide them unprecedented quality, access, and service while also delivering a cost trend significantly below industry average as well as enhanced employee health and productivity.

"As the second largest provider-owned insurer in the nation with a total of over 1.6 million covered lives in our Insurance Services Division, we have achieved similar performance in other commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid populations," Holder continued. "Collectively, these results demonstrate the promise of 'accountable care' that can be delivered at scale by integrated delivery and financing systems.  Starting with MedStar Health, Evolent Health will replicate these types of successes at leading health systems across the country."

Robert Musslewhite, Chief Executive Officer of The Advisory Board Company, added, "The health care system is on the brink of transformative change—the value-based care movement is already redefining the ways hospitals, physicians, and payers work with one another.  Our Advisory Board members continue to reinforce to us that transformation is both inevitable and 'right answer'—and we therefore continue to look for ways to foster innovative solutions to help hospitals and health systems deliver better care more efficiently.  We are confident Evolent Health will be an important contributor to this objective, and that Evolent will provide significant value through the key capabilities it offers hospitals and health systems to accept and manage all forms of value-based care reimbursement."

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Evolent Health or to learn how your provider organization might leverage Evolent Health capabilities to expand its strategy, visit Evolenthealth.com or contact Meghan Bollenback at [email protected]

About Evolent Health

Evolent Health is a provider of population and health plan management capabilities. The platform integrates people, process and technology to work together in driving measurable results and near-term return to health systems that are migrating toward value-based care reimbursement models. Evolent's platform is designed as an all-payer solution allowing health systems to manage patient populations from any payer or value-based care initiative, including Commercial, managed Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, the Medicare shared savings program and other similar initiatives.  For more information visit the firm's website, www.evolenthealth.com.

About MedStar Health

MedStar Health combines the best aspects of academic medicine, research, innovation and treatments with a complete spectrum of clinical services to advance patient care. As the largest health care provider in the Maryland and Washington, D.C., regions, MedStar's nine hospitals, the MedStar Health Research Institute and 20 other health-related organizations are recognized regionally and nationally for excellence in medical care. MedStar has one of the largest graduate medical education programs in the country training over 1,100 medical residents annually and is the medical education and clinical partner of Georgetown University. MedStar Health is a $4 billion not-for-profit, regional health care system based in Columbia, MD, that is also one of the largest employers in the region. Its 27,000 associates and 5,300 affiliated physicians all support MedStar Health's patient-first philosophy that combines care, compassion and clinical excellence with an emphasis on customer service. Visit us at www.MedStarHealth.org.

About The Advisory Board Company

The Advisory Board Company is a global research, consulting, and technology firm partnering with 125,000 leaders in 3,200 organizations across health care and higher education. Through its innovative membership model, the firm collaborates with executives and their teams to elevate performance and solve their most pressing challenges.  The company provides strategic guidance, actionable insights, web-based software solutions, and comprehensive implementation and management services. For more information, visit the firm's new website, http://www.advisory.com or contact Pete Simpkinson at (202) 266-6645 or [email protected].

About UPMC

UPMC is a $9 billion global health enterprise with 54,000 employees headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., and is transforming health care by integrating 21 hospitals, 400 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, 3,000 employed physicians, international and commercial services and a health insurance division. The integrated partner companies of the UPMC Insurance Services Division – which includes UPMC Health Plan, UPMC WorkPartners, UPMC for You (Medical Assistance), and Community Care Behavioral Health – offer a full range of group health insurance, Medicare, Special Needs, CHIP, Medical Assistance, behavioral health, employee assistance, and workers' compensation products and services.  Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC is redefining health care by using innovative science, technology and medicine to invent new models of accountable, cost-efficient and patient-centered care. For more information on how UPMC is taking medicine from where it is to where it needs to be, go to www.upmc.com.

SOURCE Evolent Health