Operating in the Kansas City area since January 2018, Centrus health is a newly-developed, physician-led clinically integrated network.

The clinically integrated network model is based on communication and collaboration among multiple providers who share a common commitment to the value of patient care. The organization brings together providers in a partnership designed to improve the quality and lower the cost of patient care across the entire continuum.  

Centrus Health represents employed medical groups of North Kansas City Hospital, Shawnee Mission Health, The University of Kansas Health System, and independent physicians including the Kansas City Metropolitan Physician Association. Their mission is to increase the value of health care.

Centrus Health is not a patient-facing brand. Instead, it is a collaboration of physicians and their practices. These partners share data and hold each other accountable for their performance to assure it meets quality and efficiency standards. 

Data is exchanged with 10 electronic medical records. It is also shared with payers and health systems alike. This means Centrus is developing clinically integrated networks. Clinical measures to which Centrus Health holds its partners accountable include Clinical Standard, Affordable Care Organizations, and Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set. 

Centrus Health’s measures of success include contractual and strategic measures. The former are clinical quality, utilization, and trended total cost of care. The latter are patients under management, value based contracts, and narrow network contracts and percentage of clinic panels under management. 

Cerner is Centrus’s technology partner, meaning revenue is shared with them. Centrus has about $2 million in annual costs. They expect to be profitable in 2021, then receive revenue in 2022. Retrospective payments include contracts for quality improvement to be measured at the end of the contract; care management fees that come in advance; and shared savings.

To learn more about Centrus Health, visit their website.

Executive Director Jill Watson and Director of IT Jane Maskus discussed their work with KC Digital Drive’s Health Innovation Team on January 30, 2019. 

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