Atlantic General joins Delmarva Health Network and Beebe Healthcare

Atlantic General Hospital and Health System has formally joined Delmarva Health Network and Beebe Healthcare to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organization. Atlantic General’s 10 employed primary care physicians will join 29 others already participating in Delmarva Health Network.

“Delmarva Health Network is about transforming the way care is designed and delivered,” says Dr. Jeffrey J. Heckert, MD, CPE, FAAFP, chairman of the board of Delmarva Health Network. “We can integrate communication across more providers as more physicians and health systems join us. We can coordinate care for more people in our community.”

“That the leadership at Atlantic General has decided to join the network tells us that we’re on to something very positive and powerful,” said Jeffrey M. Fried, FACHE, president and CEO of Beebe Healthcare. “This is an exciting partnership between two high-quality health systems.” Beebe started Delmarva Health Network in May 2013 as means of transforming the healthcare system and to deliver high-quality care with the most value for the patients at a low cost.

“Our primary care physicians have been working for several years in our Patient-Centered Medical Home initiative to slow the progression of disease and keep people healthy,” said Michael A. Franklin, president and CEO of Atlantic General Hospital and Health System.

Delmarva Health Network was approved to participate as a Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organization starting in 2014. With the addition of Atlantic General, approximately 17,000 people in Sussex, Worcester, and Wicomico counties who are Medicare beneficiaries will have access to high-quality, coordinated care.

Since passage of the Affordable Care Act, more than 360 ACOs have been established, serving over 5.3 million Americans with Medicare. Beneficiaries seeing healthcare providers in ACOs always have the freedom to choose doctors inside or outside the ACO.

Delmarva Health Network will seek to participate in programs with other insurance companies that pay for the value of the healthcare care provided, not just the quantity of care.

Atlantic General Hospital has been providing quality healthcare to the residents of Worcester, Wicomico, and Somerset counties in Maryland and Sussex County in Delaware since May 1993. For more information about Atlantic General Hospital, visit www.atlanticgeneral.org.

For more information about Beebe Healthcare, go to www.beebehealthcare.org.