SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- NantHealth, LLC, a NantWorks company, and Blue Shield of California announced today an exclusive agreement to develop and implement an integrated advanced technology system for California that will allow doctors, hospitals and health plans to deliver evidence-based care that is more coordinated and personalized, delivering better health outcomes. NantHealth and Blue Shield will work with Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., to establish the first clinically-based "continuous learning center" (CLC) to launch this collaborative as part of a new accountable care organization (ACO) Blue Shield will form with Access Medical Group and Saint John's.

The CLC will deliver innovation that will provide physicians with a comprehensive view of all information related to a patient's care, to proactively identify opportunities for intervention before problems occur, to provide real-time wireless monitoring of patients with chronic conditions, to deliver the latest updates on medical best practices, and to continuously monitor clinical outcomes. State-of-the-art supercomputing systems, high-speed secure-fiber networks and fact-based genomic data systems, and the CLC will make it possible to bring personalized molecular-based medicine to the doctors and patients at Saint John's.

"This is a transformative first step towards a new model, and that model being proactively sustaining health rather than reactively treating acute and chronic illnesses. By providing the right care to the right patient at the right time we will transform healthcare by enabling people to live healthy more vibrant lives, translating into better outcomes and lower costs in the United States," said Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, founding Chairman and CEO of NantWorks and NantHealth. "Chronic illness has become epidemic, and that is the biggest problem facing our healthcare system, both in terms of health outcomes and costs.  Rather than waiting until people fall ill and have to be hospitalized, the NantHealth approach is to monitor patients with chronic conditions, in their homes or wherever they may be, and intervene as necessary before they become seriously ill. We shall keep patients healthy and greatly reduce the number of hospital admissions. I commend Blue Shield of California and Saint John's for their visionary leadership in making this possible. This learning system puts us on the path of driving value-based care and ultimately reducing costs for all Californians."

Blue Shield of California President and Chief Operating Officer Paul Markovich welcomed the collaboration. "As more providers across California and the U.S. look to capitalize on the promise of accountable care, this collaboration with NantHealth will help us scale Blue Shield's ACO initiative, test innovative delivery models based on medical best practices, and advance our mission to expand access to quality health care at an affordable price," he said.

Lou Lazatin, Saint John's President and Chief Executive Officer, has been pushing for policy changes such as this for a while. "Our first responsibility should always be to the health of our patients," she explained. "If we can keep them out of the hospital and feeling good, I see that as a job well done. This new program will help bridge the gaps in care so we can do just that."

Access Medical Group will collaborate with Saint John's and Blue Shield to discover and drive healthcare delivery innovations in the CLC. "We are excited to be part of this important initiative to bring about systemic and sustainable advances in how we care for patients and keep them well," said Dr. Mukesh Bhatia, Medical Director, Access Medical Group.

About NantHealth
NantHealth LLC is a subsidiary of NantWorks LLC, a company founded and led by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. Its core mission is to converge a wide range of digital technologies to transform scientific research and healthcare. It is building an integrated evidence-based, genomically-informed, personalized approach to the delivery of care and the development of next generation diagnostics and therapeutics. For more information, see www.nantworks.com.

Alongside Doctors Helping Doctors www.doctorshelpingdoctorstransformhealthcare.org and the Bipartisan Policy Center www.bipartisanpolicy.org with medical thought leaders, philanthropists, and representatives from leading global businesses, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, Chairman of NantHealth and the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Advanced Health, will announce a revolutionary advance in cancer treatment innovation on October 3^rd at 8:00am at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California, an independent member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is a not-for-profit health plan with 3.3 million members and 4,800 employees. Founded in 1939 and headquartered in San Francisco, Blue Shield of California provides health, life, dental, vision, and Medicare insurance and health care service plans in California, has one of the largest provider networks, and $9.7 billion in annual revenue. In 2012, Blue Shield of California was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. Since 2005, the company has contributed more than $200 million to Blue Shield of California Foundation, one of BusinessWeek's most generous corporate foundations. Contact your local agent or broker about Blue Shield of California products and services, or visit www.blueshieldca.com.

About Saint John's
Since its founding in 1942 by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Saint John's Health Center has been providing the patients and families of Santa Monica, West Los Angeles and ocean communities with breakthrough medicine and inspired healing. Saint John's provides a spectrum of treatment and diagnostic services with distinguished areas of excellence in cancer care, spine, orthopedics, women's health, cardiac care and specialized programs such as the internationally acclaimed John Wayne Cancer Institute. Saint John's is dedicated to bringing to the community the most innovative advances in medicine and technology.  For more information, visit www.newstjohns.org.

About Access Medical Group
Access Medical Group IPA was founded by Dr. Mukesh Bhatia in 1990 and has been involved in Managed Care since its inception.  The goal of Access IPA has always been to improve the health of its members with its Primary Care and Specialist Network that has been servicing the Marina del Rey and nearby communities for over 2 decades. It recently entered into Santa Monica in 2011 to partner with the St. John's Physicians to continue its mission of providing excellent care to its members with focus on preventive care.

Media Contacts:
Jen Hodson
NantWorks
(310) 405-7539
[email protected]

Johnny Wong
Blue Shield of California
(415) 229-6321
[email protected]

Sarah Phelan
Saint John's Health Center
(310) 315-4054
(818) 929-4784 (cell)
[email protected]

Mukesh Bhatia, M.D.
Access Medical Group, Inc
818-710-0315
[email protected]

SOURCE Blue Shield of California