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About Us

NewHealth Collaborative is Summa Health System's Accountable Care Organization. It is made up of over 650 providers and 5 hospitals collaborating voluntarily to provide high-quality, coordinated care to populations served.

What is an Accountable Care Organization (ACO)?

An ACO is a group of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated, high-quality care to their patients.  An ACO shifts the focus of medicine away from treating the sick to keeping patients healthy.  It reduces cost by improving health outcomes (not by denying services) and preventing unnecessary utilization.  An ACO is not an insurance company and does not pay claims or administer health benefits.

Who is NewHealth Collaborative (NHC)?

NHC is in its eleventh year of operations, and continues to build a foundation for success in the management of the health needs of our community across the continuum of care, by supporting the work of other Summa entities in their evolution of services while providing support to the development of transformed primary care teams. Over 650 providers contribute to the provision of care in NHC’s member network. NHC’s affiliate network adds 100 primary care physicians and the support of 550 specialists.

NHC's Vision

It is a clinician-led collaborative that partners with communities to compassionately care for and serve our populations in an accountable, value and evidence-based manner.

What are NHC's goals?

  • Improving the health of populations
  • Improving the experience of care
  • Reducing per capita costs of health care

NHC Provider Benefits

  • Clinical Transformation Support
  • Quality Reporting (GPRO)
    • Reporting done within NHC alleviates the requirement to submit on Promoting Interoperability measures
  • Tier 1 for Summa Health Employee Health Plan
  • Value-Based Contracting
    • Enhanced reimbursement models
    • Shared savings
    • Care coordination incentives

NHC Provider Tools for Clinical Transformation

  • Primary Care Transformation and Practice Re-design
  • Integrated care coordination
  • Care Transition Support
  • Electronic Care Coordination Referral System
  • Clinical Communications Center

What is Integrated Care Coordination?

It is the addition of an RN or LSW care coordinator to your primary care team, as a resource for the assessment of patient goals and needs, and development of an integrated care plan for complex and/or fragile patients.

What patients do care coordinators work with?

Patients within NHC populations who are unstable or fragile due to multiple chronic conditions, moving between levels of care, and/or high levels of preventable ED utilization.

NHC Populations

Total number of lives: Approximately 113,000, with over $700 million total medical spend

  • Commercial
    • Anthem
    • NewHealthConnect Summa Health (employee health plan)
    • Medical Mutual of Ohio
    • SummaCare SCConnect
  • Medicare Advantage
    • Anthem
    • Humana Medicare Advantage
    • SummaCare Medicare Advantage
  • Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP)
  • Managed Medicaid
    •  Buckeye Health Plan

How are NHC operations funded?

NHC operations are funded through provider (both physician and hospital) assessments as well as infrastructure support from payer partners.

What are the key components of value-based contracting?

  • PCP Care Coordination Payments
  • NHC Infrastructure Support
  • Quality Metric Incentives
  • Shared Savings

How are Shared Savings distributed?

Shared savings are distributed between primary care physicians, specialists and hospitals based on metrics in the following areas:

  • Membership
  • Quality
  • Patient experience
  • Provider engagement

Compliance Information

NewHealth Collaborative maintains a compliance hotline available to any NHC provider or office staff to report suspected non-compliance, fraud, waste, or abuse.

Compliance Hotline: 1-855-280-8475

This number is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is manned by an outside vendor. Callers do not speak with a Summa Employee and have the option to remain anonymous. All calls are treated confidentially and are taken seriously and investigated.

For any additional questions regarding compliance or the hotline, please contact the NHC Compliance Officer, Beverly Brouse @ 1-855-280-8475

NHC Public Disclosure

Kathy Blake Nurse

Kathy Blake
President,
NewHealth Collaborative (ACO)
RN, MSN, NE-BC