2010 Annual Report: Embracing Change, Engaging People
Improving quality for the betterment of people’s health
In 2010,
Aetna nurses
reached out to
more
than 500,000 members
to support their
participation in an appropriate disease management
program
A key to achieving better health outcomes is improving the way health care is delivered. More than 18 million unique members like Marco Ferreira and his wife, Wendy, depend on Aetna for access to quality health care and to help get the most value from their health care dollars. They also look to us for personalized attention; and ways to make accessing health care more convenient, coordinated, and effective.
Watch Video (1:40m) | Click for a transcript
“When someone’s involved in a catastrophic injury or illness, you’re assigned a case manager; which, as a family member going through something like what we went through, that is such a blessing.” – Wendy Tucker
Coordinated care results in better quality outcomes
More than three years ago, Aetna began working with doctor groups, specialists and health care facilities to create a better way to provide health care. We began testing our accountable care organization (ACO) model in 2007 among doctors who cared for approximately 20,000 Aetna Medicare Advantage members. The model included personalized care management, supporting technology that gave doctors up-to-date patient information and medical evidence, and financial incentives for doctors to share in the improvement of their patients’ health. The results were compelling. Aetna continues to be a pioneer in the accountable care movement; and we are now working collaboratively with health systems around the country to combine incentives, programs, and technology in order to encourage higher quality care at an improved value
We also help to provide more coordinated, convenient care through patient-centered medical homes. In 2010, Aetna’s subsidiary, ActiveHealth Management, was selected by the state of North Carolina to provide disease management, case management, and wellness services to its 562,000 members. This innovative patient-centered medical home model will help North Carolina state employees and teachers get better access to care, and manage chronic health conditions
Improving quality and efficiency of patient care requires health systems, hospitals and doctors to be able to securely access and exchange health care information. To that end, we acquired Medicity, one of the nation’s foremost leaders in health information exchange. Medicity connects more than 700 hospitals and serves more than a quarter of a million end users, giving health care professionals up-to-date information for making critical clinical decisions.
By working together with health care professionals, plan sponsors and the people who use our services, we can help make the health care system less complicated. And, we can make a significant impact on the quality of health care our members receive.
