ACN Advance: Provider Newsletter

As Arizona Care Network transitions from a Next Generation ACO participant to a Global and Professional Direct Contracting participant for 2022, it will mark ACN’s 10th year as a Medicare ACO participant.

Through our evolution in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) in 2013, to the Next Generation ACO model in 2017, onward to the Global and Professional Direct Contracting (GPDC) Model in 2022, ACN continues to strengthen its mission of building a robust clinically-integrated network that supports neighborhood and affiliated practices throughout Maricopa County and beyond.

The network continues to expand with new payor partnerships beginning in 2022, while continuing to provide no-cost care coordination support for your practice and patients during difficult times, and financial opportunities that can help your practice grow.

Please contact your Clinical Performance Consultant directly or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org if you have any questions or would like more information about the GPDC Model, and watch for more communications toward late 2021 and early 2022.

Thank you for participating with ACN!

ACN’s newest payor partnership with Alignment Healthcare begins in 2022, and both organizations are co-hosting an important 1-hour webinar in the coming weeks to help providers and administrative staff learn about the partnership for their new Medicare Advantage offering in 2022.

Join us for any one (1) of the following dates via Zoom:

• Tuesday, Oct. 26, from 12-1 p.m. (Zoom invite)
• Wednesday, Nov. 3, from 7:30-8:30 a.m. (Zoom invite)
• Tuesday, Nov. 9, from 12-1 p.m. (Zoom invite)

You’ll hear from both ACN and Alignment leadership, and learn about:

• Member benefits from Alignment participation (Jeff Chicots, Director of Medicare Sales, Alignment)
• Clinical information (Dr. Michael Kedansky, Regional Medical Officer, Alignment)
• Operations processes (Miriam Molina, Director of Network Management, Alignment):
  • Referral process
  • Claims submission information
  • Billing and authorization requirements
  • Point(s) of contact
  • EFT for reimbursement

You’ll also have the opportunity to ask any questions.

You only need to attend one (1) of these hour-long webinars.

Additionally, each webinar will be recorded and made available for anyone unable to attend.

Please contact your Clinical Performance Consultant or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org to RSVP for one of the webinars or if you have any questions.

There’s more good news for specialist practices this fall.

Updated Quarterly Specialist Reports

To improve upon the quarterly specialist report suite introduced earlier this year, specialist practices will gain additional insights into its ACN patient population.

The updated reports include actionable data on accessing in-network care for professional, outpatient, and inpatient services. These tools are also intended to assist your office staff when coordinating care within the network.

These reports include:

• Detailed summary of unique ACN members seen quarterly beginning in 2021 (as applicable), broken down by practice location and individual provider
• Overview of network utilization for inpatient and outpatient facilities, and office-based procedures for elective services performed on ACN members at the group and servicing provider level
• Summary of the ACN network average for inpatient and outpatient facility alignment

Future reports for select specialties will also be available on a quarterly basis from your Clinical Performance Consultant.

Please contact your CPC or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org to receive these reports, schedule an opportunity to review them with your CPC, or if you have any questions.

Neighborhood Referral Maps Available

To further support in-network utilization and patient referral opportunities between primary care and specialty practices, ACN created a series of neighborhood maps of the Phoenix metro area. The maps feature nearby hospitals and urgent care centers, along with a listing of the most commonly-referred specialty types, including a special denotation for our Medicare ACO Preferred Providers.

Eight neighborhood maps are available:

• Biltmore (including Central and South Phoenix)
• Chandler/East Valley (including Ahwatukee and Tempe)
• Gilbert/Mesa (including SE Valley)
• Goodyear (including Glendale and Litchfield Park)
• Peoria (including Glendale)
• Scottsdale (including Paradise Valley)
• Sonoran (North Phoenix and Cave Creek)
• Surprise (including Sun City)

Maps and accompanying listings will be updated quarterly.

Please contact your Clinical Performance Consultant or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org if you’d like a neighborhood map of hospitals and facilities directory near your practice, or if you have any maps or listings changes.

ACN’s physician-led Board of Managers is accepting nominations through Nov. 1, 2021, to fill upcoming vacancies on the Board for three-year terms beginning in 2022.

Until the Board returns to live, in-person meetings at ACN’s office in Phoenix, meetings will be held “virtually” at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of alternating months (February, April, June, August, October, and December).

Additional information on Board member roles and responsibilities can be viewed here.

If you or a participating physician would like to be considered by the Nominating Committee, please download and submit a nomination form via email governance@azcarenetwork.org by Nov. 1, 2021.

As open enrollment for 2022 begins this month, ACN is proud to support the health and wellness of Whole Foods Market employees as part of a new partnership with Employers Health Network (EHN).

Whole Foods Market is the first employer client under the new EHN partnership with ACN. This partnership represents an exclusive network offering for self-funded employers aligned with ACN and Phoenix Children’s Care Network (PCCN) medical groups and facility partners.

Your practice may be contacted by Whole Foods Market employees to confirm participation this fall. Watch for more information, updates, and professional fee schedules under the EHN plan in the coming months.

To support your practice in closing any value-based quality care gap measures among your patient population, ACN is sharing a series of downloadable .PDF guides and resources to support your patients living with Diabetes:

Clinical Team Roles for Diabetes Care Management (Download .PDF): Guidelines and strategies that may help you and your office staff create an effective and efficient process in support of your patients. The guide also contains possible action items for consideration among your staff, as well as an example mapping process to highlight responsibilities and accountability items within your practice.

Deploying Diabetes Guidelines (Download .PDF): Tips, questions-and-answers, and other strategies to help build a cohesive, consistent approach toward keeping patients living with Diabetes healthy. The guide includes loose guidelines for testing, mapping, and other action items, depending upon a patient’s condition and possible hemoglobin/A1C -related risk factors.

HBA1C Monitoring Guide (Download .PDF): This 1-page chart provides suggested guidelines for HbA1C testing, prescription refill schedule, patient follow-up visit frequency, and any additional follow-up actions, based on a patient’s HbA1C lab results.

An updated version of the Diabetes Toolkit (.PDF) is also available for download and to share with your patients.

Reminder: Additional 1-page tip sheets featuring best practices, documentation requirements, and codes are available from your Clinical Performance Consultant. These tip sheets cover the following topics:

• • • Colorectal cancer screening
    • Depression screening and follow-up
    • Diabetes (A1C, Eye Exam, Nephropathy)
    • Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)
    • Tobacco screening

Please contact your CPC or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org to receive any of these downloadable/printable resources for your practice.

By Jason Kwan, PharmD
Director, Quality and Pharmacy, Population Health

Asking can make all the difference.

Recent survey results from the annual NGACO Model Quality Performance Report have reinforced patients’ desire to engage in conversations with their provider(s) regarding prescription medication costs.

In 2019, 75 percent of patients surveyed said there was little or no conversation with his/her provider(s) regarding current prescription medication costs. This troubling pattern can lead to undue financial burden on patients, which often leads to declining medication adherence, and negative patient outcomes.

A few possible considerations as part of these conversations:

• Are generics available (if well tolerated) instead of a brand medication?
• Are low- or no- cost alternative treatments available as a first line instead of medications?
• Could a cash discount medication program/card benefit the patient (GoodRX, Optum Perks, SingleCare, etc.)?

Whether it’s a new or recurring prescription medication, simply asking patients about his/her possible social determinants of health (SDOH), including any possible financial barriers to filling prescribed medications, can be crucial to improve a patient’s health and reduce unnecessary prescription costs. It can also start a conversation centered around medication costs with the patient.

To further support this dialogue between patient and provider, ACN has also created a 1-page quick reference guide (.PDF) for your patients on possible solutions to reduce prescription medication costs. You’re invited to download and share this reference guide with your patients.

You may also receive a copy from your Clinical Performance Consultant or by emailing practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org.

• Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for additional news, health-related content for providers and patients, organizational updates, and more.
• Learn more about ACN’s Care Coordination program and services designed to partner and support your practice in achieving healthy, cost-effective patient outcomes in this video.
• Abrazo’s Comprehensive Stroke Center was recently honored with several American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s 2021 Get With The Guidelines Stroke awards. The campus received the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, Stroke Elite Plus Honor Roll Award, Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll Award and the Advanced Therapy Honor Roll. Besides specialized testing, endovascular surgery, both the Comprehensive Stroke Center at its Central Campus, and its facility on the Arrowhead Campus, offer inpatient rehabilitation services, and is forming a stroke survivor support group in the coming months.
• Dignity Health’s Women’s Heart Health Program will host the 3rd Annual Women’s Heart and Vascular Symposium on Nov. 20. The full-day symposium aims to promote women’s heart health across the lifespan with an emphasis on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. It will be offered in a hybrid format (in-person and virtual) and is available for all health care clinicians. Continuing medical education credits are available. The keynote speaker will be Sharonne N. Hayes, MD, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Founder Women’s Heart Clinic, Mayo Clinic, and Immediate Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Mayo Clinic. More CME and registration information is available here. Contact Staci King (staci.king@dignityhealth.org) with questions, or Dr. Rachel Bond (rachel.bond@commonspirit.org) with clinical questions.
• Dignity Health is offering a lung cancer screening, diagnostics, and treatment CME opportunity Nov. 3 from 5-8 p.m. at TopGolf in Gilbert. The program features technology exhibitions and presentations from Dr. Chirag Patel and Dr. Abid Khokar, of the Norton Thoracic Institute. More information and registration is available here, and dinner is included.
• Omar Pineda, MSN, RN, is the new Chief Executive Officer for Abrazo Central Campus and Abrazo Mesa Hospital. While he previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Abrazo Arrowhead Campus, Pineda was instrumental in developing hospital programs, guiding development of Abrazo’s Surprise and Cave Creek micro hospitals, and providing leadership during Covid-19 pandemic surges.
• Registration is open for ACHIEVE 2021, the 14th Annual Health Current Summit & Trade Show is a hybrid in-person and virtual event Oct. 12-13. (Note: proof of vaccination required for in-person attendance at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel and Spa in Glendale.) The event includes a variety of engaging and informational presentations, including keynote speaker Micky Tripathi, Ph.D., National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. There will be updates on new HIE technologies and services, the Arizona Healthcare Directives Registry (AzHDR), Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), and SystemHealth IT Policy & Regulatory updates. There will also be a variety of panel discussions related to quality reporting, patient matching, value-based population health, and more). Register for the Summit here.
• Norton Thoracic Institute (NTI) at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center recently acquired an Ion® robotic bronchoscopy system. The Ion® system features an ultra-thin, maneuverable catheter that allows navigation far into the peripheral lung. The peripheral vision probe provides direct vision during navigation. Once the pulmonary nodule is reached, the catheter locks in place using shape sensing technology, providing unprecedented stability for biopsy. You can reach the Interventional Pulmonary and Advanced Diagnostics team at (602) 406-4000. If a patient requires a diagnostic procedure including robotic bronchoscopy, please fax referral paperwork to (602) 200-1416.

• AdvisaCare Home Health (Gilbert, Phoenix, Tucson)
• Allied Medical Associates (Phoenix)
• Arizona Urology (Gilbert)
• Canyon Pain and Spine PLLC (Mesa)
• DL Professional Services LLC (Gilbert)
• Eyes On Site PLLC (Chandler)
• Foothills Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation – Gold Canyon (Gold Canyon)
• Foothills Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy – 91st Ave – Olive (Peoria)
• GhentMD (Gilbert)
• NorthPark Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia (Phoenix)
• Julia A Piwoz MD (Phoenix)
• North Chandler Place (Chandler)
• SNKS Enterprises LLC (Chandler)
• SW Anesthesia PC (Chandler)
• Tia Arizona LLC (Phoenix)
• Westside Primary Care Associates PLLC (Sun City West)

You can also view a list of practices and providers no longer participating in ACN.