Heritage California ACO Featured In Top "100 Accountable Care Organizations To Know" List By Becker's Hospital Review

MARINA DEL REY, Calif., Aug. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Richard Merkin, President and CEO of Heritage Provider Network, is pleased to announce Heritage California ACO has been named by Becker's Hospital Review in their 2014 top "100 Accountable Care Organizations to Know" list.

The list, selected by Becker's editorial team, highlights successful Medicare and commercial payer ACO's for inclusion based on the number of physicians involved and number of beneficiaries, the lifespan of the ACO, whether it has contracts with multiple payers and whether it has recently struck any new payer agreements.

"Improving health outcomes and reducing costs is a top priority for us as we have successfully demonstrated for our beneficiaries at Heritage California ACO," said Dr. Merkin. "Recognition of our efforts from Becker's '100 Accountable Care Organizations to Know' list further strengthens our hope that the ACO model for affordable healthcare can serve as a more effective, innovative healthcare delivery system throughout the country," he added.  "For us, it is all about beneficiary engagement.  Personal relationships between our beneficiaries, physicians, care givers and case managers so we can get to know the patient better and coordinate their care."

For Heritage California ACO, one of the nation's largest ACO's, focusing on beneficiary engagement includes a wide variety of impressive programs that go the extra mile including reminding members of preventive tests and screenings, immunization drives, engaging pharmacists for safety reviews of medications, learning to shop for healthy foods at local groceries to improve weight and diabetes management, and physician home visits.  ACO-sponsored beneficiary outreach social events, including Yoga classes, museum trips and current events lectures provide beneficiaries the opportunity to exchange feedback while meeting with clinicians and care givers, as they did at this recent July 4^th event in Balboa Park, California. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQzKFar6hGk

Heritage California ACO is one of two ACO's in the country responsible for 41% of total savings achieved last year when comparing ACO performance with like population performance.

ABOUT HPN:
Heritage Provider Network, Inc. (HPN) is on the cutting edge of the accountable care model of healthcare delivery: coordinated, patient-doctor centric, integrated health care systems that represent the future of health care in the United States. HPN and its affiliates operate in California, New York and Arizona providing high quality, cost effective healthcare to over 700,000 individuals and are dedicated to quality, affordable health care, and putting patients' wellness first. (www.heritageprovidernetwork.com)

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQzKFar6hGk
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120418/LA89605LOGO-a

SOURCE Heritage Provider Network, Inc.