Power of Partnerships

Collaborating to benefit consumers 

We are committed to meeting the evolving needs of our diverse membership with a high-quality health care experience that is simpler, more convenient, easier to navigate and more affordable. But we know we cannot do it alone. That’s why we are engaging in deeper partnerships with hospitals, clinicians and innovators that share our commitment to transforming the consumer experience.

For instance, in 2019, we started an expanded, seven-year collaboration with the nonprofit Atrius Health, the state’s largest independent medical group and a leading provider of patient-centered, coordinated care. Our organizations are building on the innovative work we have already done together, beginning a decade ago with Atrius Health’s early participation in our groundbreaking, value-based Alternative Quality Contract.

Under the AQC model, physicians receive a global budget for our members’ care rather than traditional fee-for-service payments. With financial incentives tied to quality improvement and savings, they are free to invest in new and better ways to care for patients – for instance, by making social services, behavioral health care and home care available to patients living with serious chronic conditions.

For the first time, all Atrius Health patients covered by our HMO, PPO and Medicare Advantage plans are now included in the AQC, which gives us an opportunity to co-create a simpler and more seamless connection between coverage and care.  By breaking down traditional insurer-clinician barriers, we can make it easier and more convenient for our members to receive the care they need and get the most value from their plan.

How? One example: a three-way pilot program designed to offer customized health and wellness resources to Wayfair employees who are Blue Cross members and Atrius Health patients. Wayfair, with a fast-growing workforce that includes 6,100 Blue Cross members in Massachusetts, is one of the world’s largest online destinations for home furnishings. Atrius Health encompasses 31 medical practices in eastern Massachusetts, including one adjacent to Wayfair’s downtown Boston headquarters. Together, we share a goal of considering the unique needs of the company’s employees and what we could do in creative collaboration to meet those needs. 

Wayfair’s workforce is young and diverse, and the company believes that superior benefits and innovative workplace health programs can help them recruit and retain talent in Boston’s highly competitive labor market. Many employees are taking on individual or family health insurance for the first time, so one priority we identified together was to make it easier, in a fast-paced workplace, for them to understand how to use their benefits and get the care they need, when they need it.

The early phase of our pilot partnership included:

• A dedicated phone line for Wayfair employees who are new or existing Atrius Health patients to help them navigate the system and choose a primary care provider.  
• A “care concierge” nurse who provides onsite assistance for Atrius Health patients to help them understand their care options and obtain appointments with the most appropriate clinician at a convenient Atrius Health location.
• A customized women’s health program that covers topics of interest to Wayfair employees such as trends in women’s health and wellness, fertility, pregnancy and maternal health, and infant care.