St. Mary's Health Care System and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia Announce Multi-year Contract with Enhanced Value-Based Health Care and Improved Data Connectivity

St. Mary’s Health Care System to remain in-network for thousands of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia members in Northeast Georgia.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--St. Mary’s Health Care System and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia announced today a new, multi-year provider network agreement. The agreement secures long-term access to affordable health care for St. Mary’s Health Care System patients covered by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia health plans.

As part of the agreement, the two organizations will accelerate their collaboration on several innovative initiatives, including advance data connectivity and value-based care (VBC) models designed to improve health outcomes and better control costs for care for St. Mary’s Health Care System patients covered by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia health plans.

The new agreement covers all three St. Mary’s acute care facilities – St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens, St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia, and St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital in Greensboro – as well as providers within St. Mary’s Medical Group, St. Mary’s Home Health Care/Hospice Services, and all St. Mary’s outpatient facilities and services.

St. Mary’s and Anthem will incorporate Epic Payer Platform into regular operations, a technology that will streamline secure patient data flow between the organizations, bolster operational efficiency, accelerate approval processes, and improve patient outcomes. The platform’s Clinical Data Exchange simplifies processes and reduces administrative burden for medical teams, allowing doctors to spend less time doing paperwork and more time treating patients.

“We are pleased that an agreement with Anthem could be reached without disruption to patient care,” said Stonish Pierce, President/CEO of Trinity Health Georgia which includes St. Mary’s Health Care System. “St. Mary’s looks forward to our continued partnership with Anthem in serving our communities with the high-quality care people need and trust.”

While St. Mary’s and Anthem have long partnered on VBC delivery and quality-based payment models, the new agreement expands that work to include Anthem’s advanced VBC methodology. This represents further progress in moving toward healthcare models that align payment with improved health outcomes and reduced cost trends.

“We look forward to continuing to collaborate with St. Mary’s Health Care System on simplifying care for the members we mutually serve,” said Robert Bunch, President of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia. “Our goal has always been to improve health outcomes for our members focusing on one’s whole health while keeping costs manageable for consumers and employers.”

About Trinity Health

Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, Catholic health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 121,000 colleagues and nearly 36,500 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 27 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 101 hospitals, 126 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 136 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2023, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.5 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).

About St. Mary’s Health Care System

St. Mary’s Health Care System, a member of Trinity Health, is a faith-based, not-for-profit health care ministry whose mission is to be a compassionate and transforming healing presence in the communities it serves. St. Mary’s puts special focus on neurosciences, cardiac care, orthopedics, general medicine, general surgery, women’s and children’s health, and care for older adults. St. Mary's includes hospitals in Athens, Lavonia and Greensboro, as well as a multi-practice medical group, a retirement community, outpatient care facilities, graduate medical education, and a region-wide home health care/hospice service. For more information, visit St. Mary’s website at www.stmarys-health.org.

About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Blue Cross Blue Shield Healthcare Plan of Georgia, Inc., an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Anthem is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is available at www.anthem.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@AnthemBCBS_News or https://www.linkedin.com/company/anthembcbs/ on LinkedIn.