Advocare & Walgreens Selected to Run New Accountable Care Organization

Advocare, LLC forms Accountable Care Organization with Walgreens to Deliver Seamless, Coordinated Care to Improve Patient Health, Lower Costs and Close Critical Gaps in Care for Medicare Patients

Accountable Care Organizations with health care providers bring pharmacists and physicians together in Medicare Shared Savings Program

Marlton, NJ, Feb. 8, 2013 – Continuing its relentless efforts toward delivering unparalleled patient-centered care, Advocare, LLC recently formed an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) with Walgreens (NYSE:WAG) (Nasdaq:WAG).  The Advocare Walgreens Wellness Network will focus on improving patient health and access to quality care, while reducing overall health care costs. A collaborative, physician-led team approach will serve as the foundation for the ACO, with Advocare providers clinically integrating with Walgreens pharmacists and other clinicians. 

The Advocare Walgreens Wellness Network recently received approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under its Medicare Shared Savings Program, a pay-for-performance reimbursement model intended to reward medical providers who deliver elevated care at reduced cost.

“We are proud to continue Advocare’s leadership as a premier care provider,” said John Tedeschi, M.D. CEO and Chairman of the Board of Advocare, LLC.  “As a clinician and as an administrator, I am thrilled to form this innovative relationship with Walgreens, the nation’s largest pharmacy chain.  The ACO will enable our providers to work closely with Walgreens highly accessible pharmacists and other clinicians to provide the right care at the right time and the right place, thus benefitting patients, payors, providers and the health care system at large.”

“We’ve demonstrated through a number of coordinated care programs the valuable role our pharmacists and other clinicians can play in working closely with physicians and physician groups as part of a patient’s care team,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kang, Walgreens senior vice president, health and wellness services and solutions.  “We look forward to working with Advocare to develop integrated clinical programs that drive better health outcomes and serve as a model for the future of successful ACOs in health care today.”

About Walgreens Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) 

Walgreens and the physician groups with whom it has formed ACOs will work together to support and extend the care currently provided to patients by their primary care physicians.  The organizations will deliver personalized pharmacy care, emphasizing the benefits of physician-pharmacist collaboration.

Each ACO is supported by evidence-based care and data analytics to meet its “triple aim” -- to improve outcomes, increase patient satisfaction and lower total medical cost. The ACOs will capture data across the continuum of care, giving providers some of the most effective tools to treat patients.

Advocare Walgreens Wellness Network Partners About Advocare, LLC

Formed in 1998 by pediatrician, John M. Tedeschi, MD., Advocare (www.advocaredoctors.com) has over 350 multi-specialty physicians and 70 physician extenders for a total of 420 provider physicians.  With over 110 locations throughout the state of New Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania, Advocare serves over 500,000 patients with over 1.3 million visits per year.

Advocare’s success is credited to strong clinical leadership and innovative care programs resulting in positive outcomes and excellent patient experiences. Advocare has become a leader in health care through the implementation of care coordination, after hours triage and hospitalist programs to improve quality, reduce in-patient recidivism, reduce utilization and decrease costs.

Much of Advocare’s success has been credited to the Management Agreement it maintains with Continuum Health Alliance, LLC.  A leader in providing physician management services for physician networks and major health systems, Continuum Health Alliance provides Informational Technology systems, Revenue Cycle Management services, Administrative, Finance and Accounting Services and Care Coordination services. Continuum Health Alliance is on the forefront of innovation and serves as an enabler to its clients to stay ahead of the ever-changing health care curve, especially as it relates to navigating changes from the standard fee for service reimbursement model to quality-driven risk and gain sharing programs.

About Walgreens

As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2012 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to become America’s first choice for health and daily living. Each day, Walgreens provides more than 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 8,061 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. 

Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.