BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- To strengthen primary care and advance value-based care in the United States, Aledade, the nation’s largest network of independent primary care, announced its launch today of the Aledade Policy Institute.

The Aledade Policy Institute builds on the company’s success fostering collaboration and dialogue with regulators, legislators and stakeholders on value-based care. As a Public Benefit Corporation, Aledade prioritizes efforts that advance social good, and not just business objectives, as part of its mission. The Institute will play an important role in this effort by sharing insights to enrich health care policy discussions at a pivotal time for state and federal leaders.

“The Aledade Policy Institute will be a powerful voice for advancing primary care and value-based care at this important time in our nation’s history,” said Farzad Mostashari, M.D., co-founder and CEO of Aledade. “Sensible policy can materially improve the health outcomes of individuals and communities and the clinicians that serve them. Through this Institute, we are committed to supporting the needs and lifting up the voices of primary care practitioners and advancing policies that encourage even more widespread adoption of value-based care.”

The Aledade Policy Institute will focus on advancing policies across four key areas:

• Strengthening value-based care models to improve outcomes and reduce costs.
• Enhancing payment and regulatory systems to ensure sustainable primary care, including reducing the administrative burden these practices and health centers face.
• Promoting choice and competition to foster innovation in the U.S. health system.
• Driving interoperability to unlock the potential of health data.

The Institute, whose advisory council includes nationally recognized health policy experts Michael Chernew, Ceci Connolly, Bob Kocher, Avik Roy and others, will develop and share ideas to advance value-based care and primary care investment at both the federal and state levels. The council will review policy proposals and provide feedback based on data-driven evidence and alignment with public good. The Institute will be led by Aledade’s Chief Policy Officer Sean Cavanaugh, the former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) deputy administrator and director of Medicare, and include a team of other federal and state policy experts.

“The Aledade Policy Institute will deliver ideas that draw on evidence and lessons learned from a decade of working with the largest network of independent primary care in the country,” Cavanaugh said. “This will enable us to more compellingly share evidence-based recommendations that can advance value-based primary care that meets the unique needs of urban, suburban and rural geographies, community health centers and solo and small practices, creating a health care system that is good for patients and lowers costs.”

Policy Advancements

Aledade has informed several significant initiatives that have improved the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), the signature value-based care program initiated in 2012 by CMS. MSSP, which incentivizes value-based care through Accountable Care Organizations, yielded more than $2.1 billion in net savings in 2023, the largest savings in the program’s history. These initiatives include:

• Benchmarking methodology in 2016 that enabled MSSP to more fairly reward practices for efficiency and high-quality care. This move helped grow MSSP and ensured that experienced primary care physicians – regardless of where they practice – could continue to provide high-value, low-cost care to beneficiaries.
• Primary care reimbursement relief for independent physicians adversely impacted by the Change Healthcare cyberattack.
• State level efforts to remove prior authorization administrative burdens.
  

Learn more about the Aledade Policy Institute at https://aledade.com/policy-institute.

About Aledade
Aledade, a public benefit corporation, is the largest network of independent primary care in the country, helping independent practices, health centers and clinics deliver better care to their patients and thrive in value-based care. Through its proven, scalable model, which includes cutting-edge data analytics, user-friendly guided workflows, health care policy expertise, strong payer relationships and integrated care solutions, Aledade empowers physicians to succeed financially by keeping people healthy. Together with more than 1,900 practices, federally-qualified health centers and community health centers in 45 states and the District of Columbia, Aledade shares in the risk and reward across more than 200 value-based contracts representing more than 2.5 million patient lives under management. To learn more, visit www.aledade.com or follow on X (Twitter), Facebook or LinkedIn.

Hiran Ratnayake
Director of External Communications
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