Aledade raises $20 million to grow accountable care network

Value-based accountable care network Aledade has raised an additional $20 million to advance its physician-led model across Medicare, private insurance, and Medicare Advantage markets, the company announced Tuesday.

This brings Aledade's total funding to $55 million, according to the Bethesda, Maryland-based company.

Founded in 2014, Aledade partners with independent physicians to build and lead ACO networks of coordinated care. 

The funding will accelerate Aledade's efforts to grow its provider network and expand partnerships with commercial and Medicare Advantage health plans.

Investors include Biomaticss Capital and new investors, GV -- formerly Google Ventures -- and the Maryland Venture Fund.

In 2016, Aledade doubled the size of its accountable care organization network  to include more than 200 independent, physician-led practices across 15 states, representing $2 billion in healthcare spending. The ACOs are at the shift to value-based reimbursement across both public and private payer healthcare markets, Aledade said.

In addition to its work with the Medicare Shared Saving Program, Aledade has expanded its payment contracts with commercial payers, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and public payers such as the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency.

"Aledade is about providers taking the lead on delivering better care at lower cost, and this funding round is an emphatic statement that we are more than just Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs, said Farzad Mostashari, MD, CEO and co-founder of Aledade. "With this new funding, we will push ahead to bring the Aledade model of care to all patient and payer populations across the health care system, including Medicare Advantage."

Mostashari is the former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

By expanding the range of payers it works with, Aledade will be opening the door for thousands of small and solo practices to establish value-based contracts with some of the largest payers in the health care system, the company said.

The company's physician-led model will become even more valuable as commercial payers continue to implement new payment models, said Krishna Yeshwant, General Partner at GV.

Aledade's recent growth was driven by its expansion beyond Medicare MSSP ACOs to commercial value-based contracts with private health plans and a state employee health plan. Aledade will continue to grow and diversify by forging partnerships with Medicare Advantage health plans and Medicaid payers.

Aledade provides primary care physicians with regulatory expertise and best practices, user-friendly technology and data analytics that provide insight into the full spectrum of care patients receive; and face-to-face practice transformation support.

Aledade said in 2015 that its ACOs increased preventive care visits by an average of 251 percent and increased transitional care services by an average of 175 percent, and saw a decrease in emergency department visits, hospital utilization, and hospital readmission rates.

It generated a $51,000 average increase in small practice revenue.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse