The future of healthcare is here: Partnerships with community-based organizations
Abstract
“The poor man who enters into a partnership with one who is rich makes a risky venture.”
-Titus Maccius Plautus
In 2009, YMCA of the USA (Y) and UnitedHealth Group (UHG) formed what would turn out to be a historic partnership. Under the terms of this agreement, UHG would reimburse the Y for each of its eligible insured customers who successfully participated in the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program (YMCA’s DPP). This program targets individuals with prediabetes—the precursor to the disease—and aims to help them lose at least 5% of their body weight. Research has shown that participants who achieve this goal reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by almost 60% (Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group 2002).
Over the past few years, UHG has invested millions of dollars in its partnership with the Y. To my knowledge, this partnership represents one of the first times that a commercial health insurance payer has contracted with a social service community-based organization (CBO) to offer a chronic disease prevention program on a true pay-for-performance basis. Partnerships like these represent the future of healthcare. This article explores what is driving the formation of these partnerships and what it will take for them to be successful over the long term.
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Copyright (c) 2013 Taz Hussein (Author)
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