PHILADELPHIA, PA., Feb. 2, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Independence Blue Cross (Independence) today announced that effective February 1, Anthony Coletta, M.D., MBA became president of Independence's Facilitated Health Networks and executive vice president of Independence. This new position leading Facilitated Health Networks demonstrates Independence's commitment to drive improvements in healthcare quality and costs for its members across southeastern Pennsylvania. In this role, Dr. Coletta will lead the development of Independence's strategic relationships with physicians and health systems, innovative provider contracts, and sophisticated informatics and predictive analytics capabilities.
"As a board-certified general surgeon, a successful entrepreneur, and a respected business leader, Tony Coletta brings an unusual and powerful combination of skills to this critical new role at a time of sweeping change in healthcare," said Independence President and CEO Daniel J. Hilferty. "The current model for healthcare is unsustainable and change is not happening fast enough. Costs continue to rise, quality does not, and Americans are not getting healthier.
"Independence is committed to being a leader in the emerging national movement toward rewarding physicians for the quality of their care, rather than the volume of services they provide," added Hilferty. "To reward quality, cost-effective care, Independence has made significant investments in physician and hospital incentive programs and in a novel new value-based model of care, Tandigm Health, a joint investment with HealthCare Partners LLC, which Tony helped to conceive and launch in 2014."
Hilferty said that Dr. Coletta has a deep understanding of how insurers, physicians, and health systems can work together and create "disruptive change" to deliver superior, coordinated care and drive down costs. Dr. Coletta will continue to serve as president and CEO of Tandigm where in the past two years, he has "already demonstrated solid progress towards accelerating the impact of primary care on improving health outcomes and lowering costs," Hilferty said.
At Independence, Dr. Coletta will oversee Facilitated Health Networks, which includes three of Independence's key business areas: Health Services, Informatics, and Provider Networks and Value-Based Solutions. He will report to Hilferty as part of the company's efforts to accelerate the transformation of healthcare in the region and the nation.
"Under Dan's leadership, Independence is actively shaping the future of healthcare," said Dr. Coletta. "Facilitated Health Networks can be a catalyst for positive change at a time when it is greatly needed. Our members deserve superior healthcare and we need to find ways to deliver it in a more coordinated, collaborative, and cost-efficient manner. I'm excited about the opportunity to lead a group of talented and creative professionals who will work to make that a reality."
Based in West Conshohocken, Pa, Tandigm Health has demonstrated significant growth over the last two years. They have expanded to 85 employees, developed a provider network of more than 380 primary care physicians, and are enhancing the primary care doctors' ability to deliver the finest possible care to their nearly 95,000 patients across the five-county region of southeastern Pennsylvania through Tandigm Health's coordinated care model.
Before leading Tandigm, Dr. Coletta was a senior vice president of Independence and one of the principal architects of the Tandigm Health business plan. Prior to this, Dr. Coletta was executive vice president and chief medical officer of Holy Redeemer Health System in Huntingdon Valley, PA. During his clinical career, he led the creation of Renaissance Health Alliance, a joint venture between Independence Blue Cross and Renaissance, a large, Philadelphia-based Independent Practice Association. As one of the founding physicians of Renaissance, he served as chief executive officer and chairman of the board. Prior to his executive roles, Dr. Coletta was an attending general surgeon for more than two decades at Bryn Mawr Hospital, and an associate clinical professor of surgery at Drexel University and at Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
About Independence Blue Cross
Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurance organization in southeastern Pennsylvania. With our affiliates, we serve nearly 10 million people in 25 states and the District of Columbia, including 2.5 million in the region. For nearly 80 years, we have been enhancing the health and wellness of the people and communities we serve by delivering innovative and competitively priced health care products and services; pioneering new ways to reward doctors, hospitals, and other health care professionals for coordinated, quality care; and supporting programs and events that promote wellness. To learn more, visit www.ibx.com. Connect with us on Facebook at ibx.com/facebook and on Twitter at @ibx. Independence Blue Cross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
About Tandigm Health
Tandigm Health is a unique company that draws on the expertise of Independence, one of the country's largest, most innovative Blue insurers, and HealthCare Partners LLC, a nationally recognized leader of physician-centric care, in creating a network of physicians that are dedicated to providing high-quality, affordable health care in Philadelphia and the surrounding region. Tandigm Health enables the primary care physicians in its network to provide superior care to patients, emphasizing the quality of care, not the quantity of care. For more information please visit tandigmhealth.com.
About HealthCare Partners
HealthCare Partners is a wholly owned subsidiary of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc., a Fortune 500® company. HealthCare Partners manages and operates medical groups and affiliated physician networks in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida and Colorado in its pursuit to deliver excellent-quality health care in a dignified and compassionate manner. As of September 30, 2015 HealthCare Partners provided integrated care management for approximately 808,000 patients. For more information, please visit DaVitaHealthCarePartners.com.