THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Anthem Blue Cross (Anthem) today announced Providence Southern California (Providence) has agreed to join its Vivity Health Plan (Vivity) as a joint-venture partner effective November 1, 2020. The addition of Providence marks Vivity’s first expansion since it launched in 2015, bolstering the plan’s provider network offerings and collaboration in Orange and Los Angeles counties.
“We know the relationships we have with the Vivity providers are important to creating choices for our consumers and to fulfilling our mission of improving lives and communities,” said Beth Andersen, president Anthem Blue Cross commercial plans. “That’s why we are pleased to welcome Providence to the Vivity family as a partner, helping us to increase access to health care that’s affordable.”
With the addition of Providence, Vivity now offers members access to Providence’s extensive network of 746 primary care physicians, 2,800 specialists and 9 additional award-winning hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
“Providence is proud to join the Vivity partnership, which shares our commitment to simplify access to quality care, with compassion, and affordability,” said Erik G. Wexler, chief executive, Providence Southern California.
Providence joins Vivity’s founding non-profit health systems – all ranked in the top 30 in Los Angeles County by U.S. News & World Report – including Cedars-Sinai, Huntington Hospital, MemorialCare Health System, PIH Health, Torrance Memorial Medical Center and UCLA Health. Established as an LLC, all joint-venture partners share equal ownership in the governance of the organization.
“As a joint-venture among major non-profit health systems and Anthem, Vivity aligns incentives to deliver high-quality care and the best patient experience that is affordable,” said Rick Jacobs, Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer at Cedars-Sinai. “We are thrilled to have Providence join Vivity so we can expand access in Southern California and continue to strengthen the value of care delivery.”
Vivity is the first-in-the-nation joint venture between a health plan and like-minded health systems aligned to enhance the health of members and utilizes a unique provider reimbursement structure that includes shared savings from community risk pools. Vivity provides a virtually integrated health care system experience that delivers high-quality, cost-effective care and coverage.
“This partnership complements our strategy to deliver a high value network of care focused on keeping people well and providing them the highest quality and coordinated care when sick,” said Prub “P.K.” Khurana, chief strategy officer, Providence Southern California, and chief executive, Providence St. Joseph Health Network.
Offered as an HMO product for employer groups in Southern California, Vivity consistently delivers high-quality care at an affordable cost to its customers and members. Average Vivity premiums in 2019 ranged from 20 to 25 percent below Anthem’s leading traditional HMO network, offering access to best-in-class health systems at a competitive price. A key tenet of Vivity’s model is providing an exceptional member experience through a concierge-style member services team. Providing Vivity members with enhanced customer service has resulted in year-over-year increases in Vivity’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) rating and outperformed the average health insurance industry NPS by nearly 5 points in 2020.
“This is an exciting opportunity for the Vivity Partnership with Anthem and the founding health systems to have the caliber of Providence who as a new participating founder and regional integrated provider will only complement the standard of a high performing network delivering on both quality and value,” said Raj Takhar, Senior Vice President, Huntington Hospital.
In addition to the inclusion of Providence as a joint-venture partner, Vivity recently contracted with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital located in Valencia. While Henry Mayo is not joining as a joint-venture partner, the inclusion of Henry Mayo will provide additional access to best-in-class care in Los Angeles County, highlighting Vivity’s continuous efforts to increase coverage and access to affordable, quality health care.
About Vivity
Vivity is an Anthem Blue Cross health benefit plan that brings together multiple hospital systems to collaborate on clinical quality goals and care coordination to provide members with a virtually integrated delivery system. The model establishes a provider reimbursement structure that contains a joint risk-sharing arrangement for institutional services between Anthem Blue Cross and the participating hospital systems that are affiliated or contractually aligned with one or more of the medical groups in the provider network. For more information visit https://www.vivityhealth.com.
About Anthem Blue Cross (Blue Cross of California)
Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California. Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association. ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross name and symbol are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company is available at www.anthem.com. Also, follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.