In another attestation to the health care industry’s expanding interest in value-based care models, AllyAlign Health has teamed up with two other health care organizations to form Curana Health — with a goal of being in skilled nursing and senior living communities across the country.
AllyAlign Health, Elite Patient Care and Provider Health Services are merging to create Curana. AllyAlign Health helps skilled nursing and senior living providers launch and run Medicare Advantage plans. Elite Patient Care provides various levels of care and clinical services in 12 states while Provider Health Services provides geriatric care nationwide.
The creation of Curana Health comes at a time when Medicare Advantage plans, including those that are provider owned, have become an increasingly more common way for SNFs to have a seat at the table.
From 2015 to 2021, institutional special needs plan (I-SNP) enrollees grew from 53,073 to 90,000-plus, according to an analysis from health care consulting firm ATI Advisory.
And LTC-backed I-SNPs accounted for 37% of total I-SNP offerings in plan year 2021, ATI’s analysis found.
“My perspective is that the value-based care movement is here to stay and it’s going to continue to grow,” Curana Health CEO Mark Price told Skilled Nursing News. “The overall idea in health care that we should be paying for great outcomes, as opposed to paying for the volume of services delivered, is a concept that makes sense.”
Curana Health currently partners with organizations in 26 states and includes over 1,000 skilled nursing and senior living communities nationwide. SNFs make up the majority of Curana’s current footprint — totaling more than 700 across all companies.
Over the last eight years AllyAlign data shows a 37% reduction in hospital admissions among Medicare Advantage I-SNP members and a 96% satisfaction rate with clinical services among members.
Price also touted Curana’s ability to assist facilities that are short-staffed, especially at a time when the skilled nursing workforce is facing crisis levels.
“It will really innovate in the development of value-based care models for health care and senior living,” Price added. “…Everything we are doing is based on building a better, healthier ecosystem that’s founded on value-based care.”
The organization includes Curana Health Medical Group, AllyAlign Health as operator of Medicare Advantage plans and an accountable care organization (ACO) through Curana Health ACO. The broader medical group consists of over 400 clinicians and care staff across skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care, assisted living and life plan communities.
Price said he spent the last year-and-a-half working with a small group of individuals to get Curana off the ground.
“In the early days, it was really this concept of, let’s put together a comprehensive value-based care, population health approach for senior living and skilled nursing communities around the country,” he said. “And so that was really the concept, and then we started looking around at what companies we felt would form the right foundation of what we were trying to put together.”
Prior to entering into his role as Curana CEO, Price served as Intermountain Healthcare’s Nevada market president. He previously held roles at DaVita Medical Group, ChenMed and Bain & Company.
Curana was not formed through the acquisition of any of the other companies, rather, they are coming together to join one platform. Price said he expects that other companies will join down the road.
Last June, AllyAlign pulled in a $300 million investment led by global venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA).
The growth on the ACO side, Price said, spurred from the goal of providing value-based care and population health options for as many residents as possible.
“What we present [at Curana Health] is the opportunity to have a seat at the table and really have the lead seat at the table in designing what that’s going to look like,” Price told SNN.
Sister publication Senior Housing News reporter Austin Montgomery contributed to this story.
Companies featured in this article:
AllyAlign Health, ATI Advisory, Curana Health, Curana Health ACO, Curana Health Medical Group, Elite Patient Care, Provider Health Services
