By Jeff Murphy,
November 10, 2017
WARRENSBURG, MO – A groundbreaking agreement was signed today among the University
of Central Missouri (UCM), Western Missouri Medical Center (WMMC), Saint Luke’s Health
System (SLHS) and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC). It opens the
door to consider opportunities to leverage resources and services to establish a quality-driven,
patient-centered and outcomes-focused healthcare delivery strategy that pursues goals
that include stabilizing overall health care costs and creating a medical home serving
UCM faculty, staff, students and their dependents.
Among those joining in the Memorandum of Understanding signing event among University
of Central Missouri (UCM), Western Missouri Medical Center (WMMC), Saint Luke’s Health
System (SLHS) and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC) representatives
were, from left, Gus Wetzel II, UCM Board of Governors president; Don Sipes, vice
president of regional services for Saint Luke's Health System; Ron Rowe, senior vice
president sales and marketing, Blue KC; Charles Ambrose, UCM president; Darinda Reberry,
MSN, RN, president and chief executive officer of WMMC; Rita White, chair of the WMMC
Board of Trustees; Dan Houx, state representative, 54th District ; Dean Dohrman, state
representative, 51st District.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed during a ceremony at WMMC, Gay Street
and Burkarth Road, Warrensburg. Participants included Darinda J. Reberry, MSN, RN,
president and chief executive officer of WMMC; Charles Ambrose, UCM president; Don
Sipes, vice president of regional services for Saint Luke’s Health System; and Ron
Rowe, senior vice president, sales and marketing for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of
Kansas City. Members of the UCM Board of Governors and the WMMC Board of Trustees
also were among those attending the event.
“As university health care costs continue to climb at the rate of $1 million annually,
UCM must explore new opportunities to help reduce the financial impact on the institution
and its employees and their families while still providing high-quality patient care
and wellness activities,” Ambrose said. “By collaborating with Western Missouri Medical
Center, Saint Luke’s Health System, and Blue KC, we will take a team-based approach
to addressing these issues in a way that is not being done at any other colleges and
universities in this state. We look forward to pursuing the possibilities with these
outstanding organizations to make a positive difference in our campus community in
a way that other institutions will want to duplicate.”
“Western Missouri Medical Center has taken a bold but crucial move to develop an Integrated
Community Care model to provide coordinated, high-quality care and reduce health care
costs for our greater community,” Reberry said. “We’re proud to be the first choice
for patients associated with the university program and for the university to be our
first partner in this employee wellness hub to building a longstanding foundation
for the health of our community.”
Overall objectives stated in the agreement include:
- Converting the UCM campus into a patient-centered medical neighborhood or similar
organization serving faculty, staff, students and dependents;
- Stabilizing or reducing the overall health care costs incurred by patients and their
third-party payors;
- Enhancing the quality of patient care through the use of a team-based outcome-centered
delivery system;
- Developing an on-campus facility that will be convenient and accessible to patients
for primary care;
- Utilizing resources made available by SLHS and WMMC to create a robust provider network
and efficiently deliver services to UCM employees and their dependents;
- Leverage the capabilities and data of Blue KC to design and implement cost-effective
outcomes-focused health care delivery strategies; and Establish a robust community-based
wellness hub that supports multiple wellness initiatives associated with the program.
WMMC’s responsibilities, under the agreement, include working with the other parties
to utilize its facilities, primary care physician network and administrative capabilities
to fulfill inpatient and outpatient facility needs for patients who participate in
the delivery program developed through the MOU. UCM will use its campus to facilitate
the development of a medical clinic through which its faculty, staff, students and
dependents who are associated with the university health plan will receive health
care services. Additionally, Saint Luke’s East Hospital will work with the MOU partners
to fulfill the health care needs of UCM patients who participate in the program as
SLHS continues its commitment to support the health care needs of Warrensburg and
Johnson County through its many primary and specialty health care providers.
“In addition to its broader care management throughout the Kansas City region, Saint
Luke’s has years of experience in working collaboratively with Western Missouri Medical
Center and the local medical community, including sharing a comprehensive clinical
affiliation relationship. We have many common approaches to care management and we
are encouraged that this experience will provide valuable resources in working toward
the vision that Dr. Ambrose has laid out,” Sipes said.
Under the agreement, Blue KC also will help all parties in the MOU to understand where
cost savings can be achieved in the delivery of health care and types of actions that
can be performed by each organization to enhance patient care and mitigate the cost
of care.
“Blue KC is committed to providing affordable access to care. We’re always looking
for innovative ways to transform health care and partnerships like this will allow
us to better serve our members and the Kansas City community,” Rowe said.
The MOU signing follows action taken by the UCM Board of Governors Aug. 25 to include
among its medical insurance options for employees a new customized plan known as the
Exclusive Provider Option (EPO), which also is groundbreaking in higher education.
The EPO offers a strong benefit at a lower cost for employees while also providing
long-term financial benefits for the employee and the university. A component that
is extremely rare in the health care insurance arena, it includes guaranteed rates
with no cost increases for the university and for its employees for the three consecutive
years, beginning in 2018.
