Anthem Blue Cross of California is creating neighborhood centers for care through a partnership with Astrana Health.
In July, Anthem unveiled a partnership with Alhambra, Calif.-based Astrana Health, an independent physician association, on clinics exclusively for Anthem members. The first site opened in Whittier, Calif.
Beth Andersen, president of Anthem Blue Cross' commercial business, told Becker's she hopes the clinics "become a neighborhood center for care."
"The members and patients develop a bond with those physicians, and the physician office staff, so there's a level of trust that not only that member, but their family members will come and utilize the primary care services," Ms. Andersen said.
Brandon Sim, president and CEO of Astrana Health, told Becker's Anthem and Astrana will add new clinic sites in Southern California that have gaps in primary care.
Astrana's plan helps eliminate pain points people often experience accessing care. The clinics offer same-day and walk-in appointments, as well as online scheduling and a referral process for speciality visits, Mr. Sim said,.
Making access easy is the best way to keep patients engaged in primary care, Mr. Sim said.
"Availability being the best stability, we are really focused on ensuring that physicians have empty time slots in their schedules on a daily basis so patients who need or want to see a primary care doctor in a convenient or comfortable location can do that," he said.
The partnership is also designed to ensure members transitioning between Medicaid and other forms of coverage stay engaged with primary care and keep their provider.
"If a patient was just disenrolled from Medicaid because of our partnership, we're going to work closely together to make sure the patient doesn't experience any changes in their primary care network," Mr. Sim said.
Deep partnerships with providers is central to Anthem's primary care strategy, Ms. Andersen said. Data exchange is the backbone of any successful partnership with primary care providers, she said.
"A minor health concern can turn into a serious one, and you end up in the ER. Wewant to prevent that. By working together and exchanging information, it's a better overall experience," she said.
Anthem and Astrana's EHR systems will be connected, and there will be no lags in sharing data, Mr. Sim said.
"Oftentimes, in other payer-provider relationships, the two parties don't have a close relationship. There are often huge lags in terms of data reporting … We think being able to collaborate very closely on this will really help us in having close to realtime information about a patient's health," Mr. Sim said.