Cigna launches subsidiary CareAllies Inc. to help providers transform to value-based models

Cigna Headquarters- Bloomfield, CT.

Cigna has launched CareAllies Inc., a new service company to help providers make the move to value-based care by easing their administrative burden across payers and even supporting the launch and management of their own health plans.

CareAllies will focus on advisory and management services, technology, and analytics, for physician practices and delivery systems as they move from volume to value, Cigna said.

CareAllies Inc. is not to be confused with Cigna's existing CareAllies brand, which has provided consumer health improvement programs such as disease and lifestyle management and health coaching, to employer clients for years.

The CareAllies brand enables Cigna to serve an employer's entire population, regardless of which carrier provides the medical coverage.

The legacy CareAllies is separate from the new CareAllies, Inc., which operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cigna.

[Also: Collaboration on incentives needed to curb opioid epidemic, Cigna says]

CareAllies, Inc. is not based on the blueprint UnitedHealth Group used for its Optum medical network, nor does it mirror what Aetna has done with its Healthagen population management operation, according to Health Plan Week.

Dr. Julian Harris has been named president of CareAllies, Inc.

"There is no direct comparison versus an Optum or Healthagen, since we are working with providers shoulder to shoulder to navigate an incredibly dynamic landscape as we shift from fee-for-service to value," Harris told Health Plan Week.

In a statement Harris said. "Some will need us to provide or build core capabilities, and we will also work collaboratively with provider clients that already have those capabilities in place to help them achieve greater physician alignment and clinical integration."

[Also: Cigna to cut customer use of opioids by 25 percent over 3 years]

Cigna has partnered with healthcare providers for years to help them align their financial incentives with patient health outcomes, resulting in success in joint shared risk, the insurer said.

CareAllies, Inc. assembles assets, resources and talent from across the enterprise. It combines assets from Cigna, Cigna-HealthSpring's management services division for independent physician associations and QualCare Alliance Networks, Inc. which Cigna acquired in 2015.

Cigna has been part of the accountable care organization and volume-to-value movements since 2008 and now has 150 Cigna Collaborative Care arrangements with large physician practices.

[Also: California Insurance Commissioner urges feds to block $54 billion Anthem-Cigna deal]

Earlier this year, Cigna started a joint venture arrangement with St. Joseph Hoag Health to offer HMO and exclusive provider organization plans in Orange County, Calif.

Through another joint venture agreement, Cigna is collaborating with Seton Health Plan to introduce a group health plan in Austin and Waco, Texas, the insurer said.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse