Stellar Health announces expansion of value-based care initiative for Highmark Inc.

NEW YORK (October 19, 2022) — Stellar Health (Stellar), a healthcare technology company changing the way health insurers and providers activate value-based care arrangements, announced today the expansion of their value-based care initiative with Highmark Inc. (Highmark) upon results of its initial program that improved quality and chronic condition management across Highmark’s Medicare Advantage and Commercial lines of business.

Stellar announced the collaboration in 2021 to help Highmark accelerate new payment models and value-based care (VBC) for independent practices in Pennsylvania. This initiative, called True Performance Lite, was an extension of Highmark’s existing True Performance PCP Suite Program aimed at serving larger providers.

The True Performance Lite program used Stellar's unique incentive design that rewards providers and staff for completing granular VBC actions focused on quality improvement, management of chronic conditions, reduced ED and inpatient utilization, and affordability of care for Highmark members. The program saw strong results across VBC metrics compared to 2020:

• +0.63 MA Stars improvement for onboarded providers 
• +10% relative gap closure rate improvement 
• +6% risk score accuracy improvement 

The program also saw high engagement and satisfaction across providers involved in the True Performance Lite program.

“I wish all health plans had [the Stellar Health] program, it’s the easiest of all platforms by far,” said Renee Guistwite, Office Manager from Guistwite Family Practice.

Cathy, an Office Manager from Dr. Dana E Bragg MD’s office says “This app is really easy. Every part is user-friendly (much more than the other systems we use) and it doesn't take much time now that we have a workflow going. We are really excited about Stellar!”

Stellar’s web-based, cloud-native, point-of-care application leverages historical patient information to prompt primary care providers and their care teams of gaps and opportunities relating to patients’ healthcare regimens for Highmark members. Stellar Health partners with health insurers to enable providers and their staff to engage in these value-based opportunities through the application with granular action recommendations, ensure success in closing gaps, and pairs each action with a financial incentive for the time it takes to complete it.

In 2022, Stellar and Highmark expanded the True Performance Lite program into Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware supporting over 60+ provider groups across multiple lines of business and are continuing to build on the overall momentum and results in 2023. The companies are continuing to innovate on new ways to engage the Highmark network and drive outsized results through several cost and utilization initiatives as they bring the model to new provider profiles.

“Our provider-centric model lends itself to the success we have seen with Highmark over the last year as they lead value-based care delivery in the Mid-Atlantic region,” says Michael Meng, CEO of Stellar Health. “We look forward to expanding with multiple lines of business to allow providers who handle all types of coverage to meaningfully participate in VBC and help deliver better primary care for all patients.”

Providers that are interested in earning timely rewards for engaging in value-based care initiatives can contact the Stellar Health team at stellar.health/contact-us.