Hutchinson Clinic joins Stratum Med ACO

As a member of Stratum Med, a collaborative alliance of physician-owned and health system-employed physician groups, the Hutchinson Clinic has entered into an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) with Stratum partners and Caravan Health. A team of executives representing Carle Healthcare, Christie Clinic, Confluence Health, Hutchinson Clinic, The Iowa Clinic, Jefferson City Medical Group and McFarland Clinic had several joint meetings to review and negotiate the necessary documents to form the ACO. The appropriate governing and operational documents were negotiated and executed which provided for a start date of July 1, 2019.

 It is estimated that roughly 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries will be attributed to primary care providers representing the seven (7) founding organizations noted above. This is a significant strategic development that better positions the member groups to take risk at a time when CMS  (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) is pushing provider organizations in that direction. Bringing together like-minded, high performing provider organizations with a proven partner like Caravan, and with the actuarial predictability of a pool of 100,000 lives, should be a strong indicator of success moving forward.  The following individuals will sit on the Stratum Med ACO Board:

o   Stephanie Beever Carle Healthcare

o   Kenny Bilger Christie Clinic

o   Mitchell Garrison M.D. Confluence Health

o   Mike Heck Hutch Clinic

o   C. Edward Brown The Iowa Clinic

o   Ben Vallier Jefferson City Medical Group

o   Andrew Perry McFarland Clinic